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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


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TIBETAN  WOMAN  .\:>b  owN 


With  the  Tibetans  in 
Tent  and  Temple 


NARRATIVE  OF  FOUR  YEARS'  RESI- 
DENCE ON  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER,  AND 
OF  A  JOURNEY  INTO  THE  FAR  INTERIOR 


BY 


SUSIE  CARSON  RIJNHART,  M.D. 


Fifth  Edition 


FOREIGN    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONARY 

SOCIETY 

CINCINNATI,  OHIO 


COPYRIGHT,  I90I, 
BY  FLEMING  H. 
RBVELL     COMPANY 


,O*it30fe6t>Z*\ 


TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MY 
HUSBAND,  WHOSE  HEART 
AND  LIFE  WERE  GIVEN 
TO  THE  TIBETANS,  THIS 
VOLUME     IS    DEDICATED 


Introductory   Note 

Since  this  work  was  published  in  igoi  Dr.  Susie 
Carson  Rijnhart,  the  author,  has  returned  to  the 
borders  of  Tibet  to  work  amongf  the  Tibetans. 
She  is  located  at  Ta  Chien  Lu,  in  West  China. 
Dr.  Rijnhart  represents  the  Foreig^n  Christian 
Missionary  Society.  Her  associates  are  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  A.  L.  Shelton  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Ogden. 
The  readers  of  this  book  will  remember  how  her 
child  died  and  was  buried  in  a  drug  box,  and  how 
a  great  boulder  was  placed  over  the  grave  to  keep 
it  from  being  desecrated  by  robbers  or  from  being 
disturbed  by  wild  beasts  ;  and  how  her  husband 
while  seeking  aid  from  the  natives  disappeared  from 
her  sight  forever.  Dr.  Rijnhart  has  consecrated 
her  life  to  Tibet,  and  the  loss  of  her  child  and 
husband  could  not  afifect  that  consecration.  When 
asked  if  it  would  not  be  a  cross  for  her  to  return  to 
Tibet  where  she  had  suffered  so  much,  she  said, 
"  It  would  be  a  cross  not  to  return."  The  desire 
of  her  heart  has  been  fulfilled.  Being  providentially 
restored  to  health  she  has  gone  to  minister  the 
gospel  to  the  Tibetans.  She  heals  the  sick,  teaches 
the  women  of  Christ  and  his  salvation,  distributes 
literature,  and  trains  helpers  for  the  service. 


PREFACE 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  attempted  to  nar- 
rate briefly  the  events  of  four  years'  residence  and 
travel  among  the  Tibetans  (1895-1899).  The  work 
does  not  aim  at  literary  finish,  for  it  has  been  writ- 
ten under  the  stress  of  many  public  engagements. 
It  is  sent  forth  in  response  to  requests  and  sugges- 
tions received  from  friends  in  all  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada. 

If  I  may  succeed  in  perpetuating  and  deepening 
the  widespread  interest  in  the  evangelization  of 
Tibet,  already  aroused  by  the  press  and  platform 
accounts  of  the  missionary  pioneering  herein  de- 
scribed, I  shall  be  glad.  To  this  end  I  have  incor- 
porated in  the  narrative  as  many  data  concerning 
the  customs,  beliefs  and  social  conditions  of  the 
Tibetans  as  space  would  allow.  My  close  contact 
with  the  people  during  four  years  has  enabled  me 
to  speak  with  confidence  on  these  points,  even 
when  I  have  found  myself  differing  from  great 
travelers  who,  because  of  their  brief  sojourn  and 
rapid    progress,    necessarily    received    some    false 


PREFACE 

impressions.  The  map  accompanying  the  book 
shows  the  route  of  the  last  journey  undertaken  in 
1898  by  my  husband,  myself  and  our  little  son,  and 
of  which  I  am  the  sole  survivor.  Leaving  Tankar 
on  the  northwestern  frontier  of  Chinese  or  Outer 
Tibet,  crossing  the  Ts'aidam  Desert,  the  Kuenlun 
and  Dang  La  Mountains,  we  entered  the  Lhasa  dis- 
trict of  Inner  Tibet,  reaching  Nagch'uk'a,  a  town 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  capital. 
In  describing  this  journey,  such  portions  of  Mr. 
Rijnhart's  diary  as  I  was  able  to  preserve,  and  also 
his  accurate  geographical  notes,  have  been  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  me. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Rev.  Mr.  Upcraft,  Baptist 
missionary  at  Ya  Cheo,  China,  for  photographs  from 
which  some  of  the  illustrations  were  made.  And  I 
am  especially  grateful  to  Prof.  Charles  T.  Paul,  of 
Hiram  College,  who  placed  at  my  disposal  the  fruits 
of  his  many  years'  study  of  Tibetiana,  and  rendered 
me  invaluable  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the 

manuscript. 

Susie  C.  Rijnhart. 

Chatham,  Ontario,  Canada. 


CONTENTS 

OHAPTEE  PAGE 

I.  To  THE  Tibetan  Border. — Mission  in  a  Bud- 
dhist Lamasery — Preparation  for  the  Journey 
— Across  China — Impressions  by  the  Way  .  9 
II.  Among  the  Lamas. — Arrival  at  Lusar — Strange 
Lama  Ceremonies — Medical  Work — Our  Tib- 
etan Teacher — First  Experience  with  Robber 
Nomads 27 

III.  A  Mohammedan   Rebellion. — Moslem  Sects — 

Beginnings  of  the  Struggle — Our  Acquaintance 
with  the  Abbot — Refuge  in  the  Lamasery — 
The  Doctrine  of  Reincarnation  ...      50 

IV.  With  the  Wounded. — Refugees  at  Sining — Our 

Isolation  at  Kumbum — The  Siege  of  Shen- 
Ch'un— To  the  Battlefield— A  Ride  for  Life- 
Rout  of  the  Mohammedans  ....  68 
V.  Missions  and  Massacres.  —  Bible  School  at 
Lusar — Mohammedan  Revolt  at  Sining — Ter- 
rible Slaughter  by  Imperial  Soldiers — The 
Fall  of  Topa — Peace  at  Last  .  .  ,  .  86 
VI.  The  Lamasery  of  Kumbum. — Tibetan  Lama- 
series— Legend  of  Tsong  K'aba — Origin  of 
Kumbum — The  Gold  Tiled  Temple  and  Sacred 
Tree — Nocturnal   Devotions  and  Worship   of 

the  Butter  God 102 

VII.  A  Buddhist  Saint. — Mina  Fuyeh's  Abode — His 
Previous  Incarnations — Mahatmas — Conver- 
sations on  Christianity — Jambula — Behind  the 

Scenes 120 

VIII.  Our  Removal  to  Tankar. — Tankar  and  Sur- 
roundings— A  New  Opportunity — Ani  and 
Doma — The  Lhasa  Officials — Drunken  Lamas 
—Visit  of  Captain  Wellby  .        .        .        .133 


CONTENTS 

IX.  Distinguished  Visitors. — Mr.  Rijnhart's  Ab- 
sence— Our  House  is  Robbed — Visit  of  Dr. 
Sven  Hedin — Tsanga  Fuyeh — Medical  Work 
among  Nomads — Birth  of  our  Little  Son  .  155 
X.  Among  the  Tanguts  of  the  Koko-Nor. — Tan- 
gut  Customs — Journeys  to  the  Koko-Nor — 
Nomadic  Tent-Life — A  Glimpse  of  the  Blue 
Sea — Robbers — Distributing  Gospels  .  .  170 
XL  Toward  the  Tibetan  Capital. — Lhasa  the 
Home  of  the  Dalai  Lama — Need  of  Pioneer 
Work  in  Inner  Tibet — Our  Preparations  for 

the  Journey 191 

XIL  Farwell  to  Tankar.  —  Leaving  Faithful 
Friends— Our  Caravan  Moves  Off — Through 
the  Grass  Country  to  the  Desert — Two  Mon- 
gol Guides 205 

XHL  In  the  Ts'aidam. — The  Ts'aidam  and  its  People 
— Polyandry  and  Cruelty  to  the  Aged — The 
Dzassak  of  Barong — Celebration  of  Baby's 
Birthday — Missionary  Prospects      .        .        .     219 

XIV.  Unpopulated  Districts. — Crossing  the  Kuen- 
lun  Mountains  —  "Buddha's  Cauldron"  — 
Marshes  and  Sand  Hills — Dead  Yak  Strew  the 
Trail — Ford  of  the  Shuga  Gol — Our  Guides 
Desert  Us — Snow  Storm  on  the  Koko-Shilis — 
We    Meet    a    Caravan  —  The    Beginning  of 

Sorrows 232 

XV.  Darkness. — Nearing  the  Dang  Las — Death  of 
Our  Little  Son — The  Lone  Grave  Under  the 
Boulder 345 

XVI.  Beyond  the  Dang  La. — Accosted  by  Official 
Spies— Our  Escape — The  Natives  Buy  Copiesof 
the  Scriptures — Our  Escort  to  thePonbo'sTent  254 
XVII.  Nagch'uk'a.  —  Government  of  Nagch'uk'a — 
Under  Official  Surveillance — Dealings  with 
the  Ponbo  Ch'enpo — We  are  Ordered  to  Re- 
turn to  China— Our  Decision    ....     265 


CONTENTS 

XVIII.    Oh  the  Caravan  Road.— The  Start  from  Nag- 
ch'uk'a  with  New  Guides — Farewell  to  our 
Last    Friend — Rahim   Leaves  for  Ladak — 
Fording  the  Shak  Chu  Torrent — Reading  the 
Gospels — A  Day  of  Memories         .        .        .     275 
XIX.     Attacked  by  Mountain  Robbers. — We  Cross 
the  Tsa  Chu — Suspicious  Visitors — A  Shower 
of    Bullets    and    Boulders  —  Loss    of    Our 
Animals  —  Our    Guides    Disappear  —  The 
Dread  Night  by  the  River       ....     289 
XX.    Our    Last  Days  Together. — The  Robbers' 
Ambush — The  Worst  Ford  of  all — Footmarks 
and  a  False  Hope — A  Deserted  Camp — The 
Bed  under  the  Snow — Mr.  Rijnhart  Goes  to 
Native  Tents  for  Aid,  never  to  Return  .        .    302 
XXI.     Lost  and  Alone. — Waiting  and  Watching — 
Conviction  of  Mr.  Rijnhart's  Fate — Refuge 
among  Strange  Tibetans — Their  Cruel  Treat- 
ment— The  Start  for  Jy^kundo  for  Official  Aid    312 
XXII.    Wicked  Tibetan  Guides. — The  Apa  and  the 
Murder  of   Dutreuil  de   Rhins — Conference 
with  a  Chief — New  Guides,  Treacherous  and 
Corrupt — The   Night  Camp  in  the  Marsh — 
We  are  Taken  for  Robbers — A  Lamasery  Fair    325 

XXIII.  A  Friendly  Chinaman. — A  Protector  at  Last — 

I  Receive  a  Passport  from  the  Abbot  of  Rashl 
Gomba — A  Lama  Guide — Battle  with  Fierce 
Dogs— Arrival  at  Jy^kundo — No  Official  Aid    342 

XXIV.  More  Robbers. — From  Jy^kundo  to  Kansa — 

Difficulties  with  Ula — At  the  Home  of  the 
Gimbi — Corrupt  Lamas — Attacked  by  Drunk- 
en Robbers — Deliverance  ....  357 
XXV.  Safe  at  Last. — The  Approach  to  Ta-Chien-Lu 
— My  Pony  becomes  Exhausted — Long 
Marches  with  Blistered  Feet — Chinese  Con- 
ception of  Europeans — Among  Friends  Once 

More — Conclusion 377 

Glossary 399 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

Tibetan  Woman  and  Son    ....         Frontispiece 

Map  Showing  Dr.  Rijnhart's  Journey         ...  12 

Border  Types 22 

Tibetan  Buddhist  Layman log 

MiNA   FUYEH 120 

Tangut  Robbers 188 

A  Tibetan  Traveler 214 

Tibetan  Coracle 262 

Crossing  a  Rope  Bridge 283 

Petrus  Rijnhart 302 

The  Author  in  Tibetan  Costume    ....  312 

A  Tibetan  House 326 

Mani  Stone  with  Inscribed  Prayer        .        .        .  346 

A  Wall  of  Tea  Bales 362 


WITH  THE  TIBETANS 


CHAPTER    I 

TO    THE    TIBETAN    BORDER 

Mission  in  a  Buddhist  Lamasery — Preparation  for  the 
Journey — Across  China — Impressions  by  the  Way. 

On  the  slopes  of  two  hills  in  the  province  of  Amdo, 
on  the  extreme  northwestern  Chino-Tibetan  frontier, 
nestles  the  great  lamasery  of  Kumbum,  famed  among 
the  devotees  of  Buddha  as  one  of  the  holiest  spots  on 
Asiatic  soil.  As  a  center  of  Buddhist  learning  and 
worship  it  is  known  in  the  remote  parts  of  China,  Man- 
churia, Mongolia,  and  in  all  the  Tibetan  territories, 
even  to  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  and  is  estimated  to 
be  second  in  rank  only  to  Lhasa,  the  Tibetan  capital. 
It  is  the  seclusive  residence  of  some  four  thousand 
lamas  and,  at  festive  seasons,  the  goal  of  pilgrimages 
from  all  Buddhist  countries  contiguous  to  Tibet.  Desir- 
ing to  carry  on  missionary  work  among  the  Tibetans  we 
left  America  in  the  autumn  of  1894,  having  Kumbum  as 
our  point  of  destination.  We  expected  to  make  our  home 
and  establish  a  medical  station  at  Lusar,  a  village 
which  may  be  called  the  secular  part  of  the  lamasery, 
where  the  lamas  do  their  trading,  and  which  is  only 
about  five  minutes'  walk  from  the  lamasery  proper. 

9 


10  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

The  considerations  which  led  us  to  select  Lusar  as  a 
basis  of  operations,  besides  its  proximity  to  the  lama- 
sery, were  as  follows:  My  husband,  Mr.  Petrus  Rijn- 
hart,  about  three  years  previous  had  conceived  the  idea 
of  entering  Tibet  for  missionary  purposes,  from  the 
Chinese  side.  From  the  experiences  of  Hue  and  Gabet, 
the  Lazarist  fathers,  who,  following  a  route  through 
Tartary  and  China,  had  gained  free  access  into  the  for- 
bidden land,  he  was  convinced  that  the  antipathy  to 
foreign  intrusion  everywhere  manifested  in  the  vigi- 
lantly guarded  passes  of  the  Himalayan  frontier  south 
and  west  did  not  exist  to  any  extent  on  the  northeast- 
ern border  between  Outer  Tibet  and  China.  In  this  he 
was  right.  Crossing  the  Chinese  Empire,  he  had 
reached  Lusar  in  1893,  had  resided  for  ten  months  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  lamasery,  had  been  well  received  by 
the  priests,  who  called  him  a  "  white  lama  from  the 
West,"  and  had  labored  diligently  to  make  known  the 
Gospel.  His  work  had  consisted  principally  of  private 
conversations  with  the  lamas,  and  of  short  journeys 
among  the  nomads  of  the  surrounding  country,  preach- 
ing and  teaching,  and  wielding  what  little  medical 
knowledge  he  possessed  in  the  treatment  of  the  sick. 
Among  his  patients  were  people  of  high  and  low  de- 
gree, lamas  from  the  great  monastery,  Tibetan  and 
Mongol  chiefs  of  the  Koko-nor  tribes,  officials,  mer- 
chants, shepherds,  and  even  robbers.  The  interest  with 
which  his  ministrations  were  received  gave  him  great 
encouragement  and  deepened  the  intense  longing  he 
had  already  conceived  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
Tibetans.     Many  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  had 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  H 

never  seen  a  European  nor  heard  the  name  of  Christ. 
Some  of  the  lamas  said  the  Christian  doctrine  was  too 
good  to  be  true;  others  inquired  why,  if  the  doctrine 
were  true,  the  Christians  had  waited  "  so  many  moons  " 
before  sending  them  the  glad  tidings.  During  one  of 
his  itinerating  journeys  "  a  living  buddha "  with  his 
train  of  dignitaries  came  to  the  tent,  having  heard,  as 
he  said,  that  a  man  with  a  white  face  had  come,  and, 
sitting  at  the  feet  of  the  white  stranger,  the  Buddhist 
teacher  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  the  wonderful 
story  of  the  world's  Saviour.  During  his  sojourn  no 
official,  either  Chinese  or  Tibetan,  asked  for  his  pass- 
port, or  questioned  him  as  to  his  intentions  of  penetrat- 
ing to  the  interior.  Thus  under  circumstances  unex- 
pectedly favorable,  surrounded  by  good  will  and  hos- 
pitality, and  free  from  that  prejudice  and  espionage 
with  which  foreigners  approaching  the  Tibetan  border 
are  usually  regarded,  he  had  had  ample  opportunity  of 
studying  the  life,  needs  and  disposition  of  the  people, 
and  his  knowledge  gave  us  assurance  of  the  reception 
that  awaited  us  at  the  lamasery  village.  Again,  Lusar 
was  advantageous  from  a  topographical  standpoint,  be- 
ing situated  near  the  juncture  of  several  important 
highways;  one  leading  to  China,  another  to  Mongolia, 
and  still  another,  the  great  caravan  route,  leading  to 
Lhasa.  Here  we  could  easily  receive  supplies,  and 
would  be  likely  to  come  in  contact  with  the  people  on 
a  large  scale,  owing  to  the  amount  of  traffic  that  passes 
along  the  great  roads.  Also,  the  surrounding  country 
being  inhabited  by  a  cosmopolitan  population  compris- 
ing Mongols,  Chinese,  Tibetans,  and  a  few  Turkestani 


12  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Mohammedans,  it  was  a  good  place  in  which  to  become 
conversant  with  the  languages  we  should  require,  look- 
ing forward  as  we  were  to  a  life-long  sojourn  in  the 
regions  of  Central  Asia.  We  left  America  for  our  dis- 
tant field  without  any  human  guarantee  of  support, 
for  we  were  not  sent  out  by  any  missionary  society. 
Although,  through  Mr.  Eijnhart's  lectures  in  Holland, 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  considerable  interest 
had  been  aroused  and  many  friends  won  to  the  cause  of 
Tibetan  missions,  yet  our  visible  resources  were  limited 
at  best.  We  went  forth,  however,  with  a  conviction 
which  amounted  to  absolute  trust  that  God  would  ful- 
fil His  promise  to  those  who  "  seek  first  the  Kingdom," 
and  continue  to  supply  us  with  all  things  necessary  for 
carrying  on  the  work  to  which  He  had  called  us.  From 
the  outset  we  felt  that  we  were  "  thrust  forth "  spe- 
cially for  pioneer  work,  and  although  anticipating  dif- 
ficulties and  sacrifices  we  were  filled  with  joy  at  the 
prospect  of  sowing  precious  seed  on  new  ground. 

Our  party,  consisting  of  Mr.  Eijnhart,  his  fellow- 
worker,  Mr.  William  Neil  Ferguson,  and  myself,  sail- 
ing from  the  Pacific  Coast,  had  decided  to  follow  sub- 
stantially the  same  route  across  China  which  Mr.  Eijn- 
hart had  taken  on  his  former  journey.  From  Shanghai 
up  the  Yangtse  to  Hankow  we  would  go  by  steamer; 
thence  by  house-boat  up  the  Han  as  far  as  Fancheng, 
situated  about  four  hundred  miles  up  the  river.  The 
remainder  of  the  journey  would  be  completed  overland 
by  cart  and  mule.  We  had  endeavored,  before  leaving 
America,  to  equip  ourselves  as  well  as  possible,  not  only 
against  the  long  journey,  but  also,  in  view  of  our  pros- 


5y  the  red  circle, 
arkedby  red  cross. 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  13 

poictive  residence  far  from  civilization,  with  the  possi- 
bility of  being  temporarily  cut  off  altogether,  owing  to 
the  frequent  rebellions  that  take  place  in  Central 
China,  rendering  the  passage  of  mails  and  supplies  un- 
certain. Our  stores  were  contained  in  thirteen  large, 
ponderous  boxes,  and  consisted  of  clothing,  culinary 
utensils,  and  other  portable  domestic  necessities,  medi- 
cines, dental  and  surgical  instruments,  fire-arms  and 
ammunition,  photographic  materials,  books,  including 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  Tibetan,  and  stationery,  be- 
sides compasses,  thermometers,  a  sewing  machine  and  a 
bicycle.  In  Shanghai  we  added  drugs,  clothing,  food 
for  the  river  journey,  Chinese  brazen  oil  lamps,  trinkets 
for  bartering,  and  other  articles.  Knowing  the  advan- 
tage of  traveling  in  native  costume,  each  of  us  donned 
a  Chinese  suit.  It  was  my  first  experience  with  oriental 
attire,  and  I  shall  not  soon  forget  it.  After  adjusting 
the  unwieldy  garments  to  my  own  satisfaction,  I  at- 
tended a  service  in  the  Union  Church,  where,  to  my 
consternation,  I  discovered  I  had  appeared  in  public 
with  one  of  the  under  garments  outside  and  dressed  in 
a  manner  which  shocked  Chinese  ideas  of  propriety. 

Mr.  Rijnliart,  on  account  of  his  thorough  knowledge 
of  Chinese,  was  able  to  make  excellent  arrangements, 
for  our  passage  into  the  interior.  As  the  war  with  Ja- 
pan was  then  raging  and  the  country  in  an  unsettled 
state,  there  were  difficulties  to  be  anticipated;  nor  was 
there  anything  inviting  in  the  thought  of  doing  two 
thousand  miles  in  midwinter  under  such  exposure  as 
would  be  entailed  by  the  primitive  modes  of  oriental 
travel.    Yet,  if  one  holds  to  progress  with  any  comfort 


14  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

worthy  the  name,  there  are  reasons  for  making  the 
journey  during  the  hibernating  period  of  the  greater 
portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  China,  namel}^,  the  ver- 
minous ! 

Our  first  stage  up  the  Yangtse  was  made  in  a  steamer 
manned  by  English  officers  and  a  Chinese  crew.  There 
was  a  sense  of  security,  which  afterwards  we  sadly 
lacked,  in  the  feeling  that  the  great  river  was  but  an 
arm  of  the  gentle  Pacific  that  laved  our  native  shores, 
stretched  far  inland  as  if  to  assure  us  of  protection. 
Our  first  stopping-place  was  the  city  of  Hankow,  an 
important  commercial  centre  situated  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Han  and  Yangtse  rivers,  and,  following  the  sinu- 
osities of  the  Yangtse,  distant  about  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  the  seaboard.  The  city  was  full 
of  stir  on  our  arrival.  The  people  were  intensely  ex- 
cited over  the  war,  and  signs  of  military  activity  were 
on  every  hand.  The  spacious  harbor  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Han  presented  the  appearance  of  a  forest  of  masts 
in  which  all  the  ships  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  world  had 
congregated  in  one  dense  fleet.  They  were  chiefly 
house-boats  and  cargo  junks  that  usually  ply  up  and 
down  the  river,  but  conspicuous  among  them  were  the 
high-pooped  transports,  their  decks  crowded  with  blue 
and  red  jacketed  soldiers  on  their  way  to  the  scene  of 
action. 

We  took  passage  for  Fancheng  in  the  inevitable 
house-boat,  a  long,  clumsy-looking  scow  divided  into 
three  compartments;  the  captain's  cabin  at  the  stern, 
inhabited  by  himself,  his  wife  and  little  child ;  another 
long  cabin  for  the  passengers,  situated  amidships  and 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  16 

separated  from  the  former  by  a  movable  partition ;  and 
a  space  at  the  bow  where  the  crew  discharged  the  func- 
tions of  eating,  sleeping  and  working.  Under  each 
compartment  was  a  hold  for  the  belongings  of  its  occu- 
pants. On  the  rare  occasions  when  the  winds  were 
favorable  the  sails  were  sufficient  to  propel  the  awkward 
craft;  otherwise  she  was  pulled  along  by  the  sturdy 
trackers  on  the  shore.  In  deep  water  the  captain 
steered  by  means  of  a  prodigious  rudder;  in  the  shal- 
lows he  managed  with  a  long,  stout  bamboo  pole.  This 
mode  of  traveling  was  not  without  its  amenities.  The 
weather  being  fine,  and  the  scenery  along  the  river 
banks  charming,  we  frequently  disembarked  and  went 
afoot,  and  occasioned  no  little  commotion  as  we  passed 
through  the  villages,  a  foreign  woman  being  an  object 
of  especial  interest.  Crowding  around,  the  people 
would  handle  my  clothing  and  ply  me  with  questions, 
evincing  astonishment  at  the  size  of  my  feet. 

The  villagers  were  mostly  of  the  agricultural  class, 
and  appeared  to  be  very  industrious.  The  door-yards 
were  tidy,  as  were  also  the  farms,  every  available  foot 
of  land  being  cultivated.  Everything  about  the  houses 
betokened  an  air  of  freedom,  even  the  pigs  and  chick- 
ens being  allowed  to  go  in  and  out  at  will.  Signs  of 
religious  life  were  not  wanting.  In  one  village  we  came 
across  an  old  temple  mostly  in  ruins,  in  the  one  re- 
maining corner  of  which  were  ten  idols,  some  incense 
bowls  and  sticks,  while  near  by  lay  the  huge  bell,  silent 
and  long  since  fallen  from  its  lofty  place.  In  the  even- 
ing the  people  flocked  to  the  old  ruin  to  worship  amid 
the  sound  of  firecrackers  and  the  beating  of  a  huge 


16  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

gong  by  the  attendant  priest,  and  as  the  weird  sounds 
were  carried  afar  and  re-echoed  in  the  cold,  still  even- 
ing air  there  was  about  the  whole  scene  a  touching 
picturesqueness  not  unmingled  with  solemnity.  Christ- 
mas day  found  us  still  on  the  house-boat,  and  with  it 
came  many  pleasant  memories  of  that  glad,  festive  sea- 
son in  the  homeland,  and  many  reflections  concerning 
China's  teeming  millions  to  whom  the  Christ  of  Beth- 
lehem was  still  a  stranger. 

On  January  7  we  reached  Fancheng,  none  the  worse 
for  our  river  journey.  A  hearty  welcome  was  given  us 
by  the  resident  Scandinavian  missionaries,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Matson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woolin,  and  Mr.  Shequist,  whom 
we  found  engaged  in  a  most  valuable  work.  Besides 
preaching,  they  conducted  a  boys'  school,  and  at  the 
time  of  our  visit  were  erecting  a  school  for  girls.  Our 
stay  in  Fancheng  was  brief,  just  long  enough  to  get 
through  the  unenviable  and  seemingly  endless  prelimi- 
naries to  an  overland  journey  by  cart.  The  hiring  of 
the  carts  was  itself  no  little  matter  even  with  the  assist- 
ance of  our  Scandinavian  friends,  but  finally  the  piao 
was  signed,  by  which  we  secured  two  carters,  with  two 
large  carts  and  a  small  one,  to  take  us  to  Signan.  By 
the  word  "  cart "  this  Chinese  vehicle  is  but  faintly  de- 
scribed. It  consists  of  a  clumsy,  bulky  frame  set  on  a 
single  axle,  innocent  of  springs,  its  two  wheels  fur- 
nished with  tires  several  inches  in  width  and  in  thick- 
ness. The  frame  is  covered  by  an  awning  of  matting  to 
shelter  the  traveler  and  his  baggage  from  the  heat  and 
rain.  The  smaller  carts,  constructed  on  the  same  plan, 
are  generally  painted  and  have  a  cloth  covering  with 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  17 

windows  in  the  sides.  These  carts  are  drawn  in  China 
by  mules  or  horses,  in  Mongolia  by  camels  or  oxen.  In 
many  of  the  principal  roads  deep  grooves  have'  been 
worn  by  the  constant  passing  of  the  great  wheels,  and, 
the  length  of  the  axle  differing  in  the  various  districts, 
the  grooves  are  not  equidistant  on  all  roads,  so  that  it 
occasionally  happens  that  at  certain  junctures  all  axles 
have  to  be  changed.  At  Tung  Kuan,  for  instance,  a 
town  situated  at  the  meeting-place  of  the  provinces  of 
Shensi,  Shansi  and  Honan,  this  operation  is  necessary. 

On  January  11  we  were  ready  to  start.  We  had 
taken  the  precaution  to  furnish  our  cart  with  a  straw 
mattress,  some  pillows  and  comforters,  to  provide 
against  the  jolting  which  we  knew  awaited  us.  Our 
boxes  being  already  in  position,  after  Scripture  reading 
with  the  missionaries  our  little  caravan  moved  off. 
Two  of  the  missionaries  accompanied  us  outside  the 
city  gates  to  bid  us  God-speed,  and  it  was  only  after  we 
had  parted  ways  with  them  that  we  realized  we  had 
actually  set  out  on  the  most  difficult  part  of  our  jour- 
ney across  the  Celestial  Empire.  The  road  from  the 
start  was  very  uneven,  a  fall  of  two  feet  being  not  un- 
common. I  received  a  severe  bump  on  the  head,  and 
experienced  so  many  changes  of  position  and  came  so 
frequently  and  emphatically  into  collision  with  various 
portions  of  the  cart  as  to  have  remembered  that  springs 
are  not  a  luxury  of  cart  travel  in  China. 

Carters  are  supposed  to  make  a  certain  stage  each 
day,  and  inns  are  found  at  the  end  of  each  stage  for 
the  accommodation  of  travelers.  In  order  to  cover  the 
required  distance  we  were  frequently  on  the  way  in  the 


18  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

middle  of  the  night,  and  even  though  traveling  from 
long  before  daylight  until  dusk  we  were  not  always 
able  to  reach  an  inn.  At  such  times  one  must  either 
sleep  in  the  cart  or  put  up  in  a  farmhouse.  Even  the 
regular  inns  are  by  no  means  inviting.  We  first 
stopped  in  one  of  these  thirty-five  miles  from  Fan- 
cheng.  It  was  a  flimsy  structure,  with  great  crevices 
gaping  in  the  walls,  in  which  were  rude  lattice  win- 
dows with  paper  panes;  the  ceilings  were  composed  of 
bamboo  poles  nailed  across  the  rafters,  from  which 
cobwebs  hung  in  profusion;  the  sleeping-room  had  no 
floor,  and  the  bed  was  as  hard  as  boards  could  make  it, 
springless  of  course,  and  destitute  of  covers.  But  one 
welcomes  any  variation  from  the  tedium  of  a  Chinese 
cart  journey,  and  after  the  jolting  of  the  first  day  can 
rest  even  in  a  Chinese  inn. 

One  night,  having  failed  to  make  the  required  stage, 
we  sought  shelter  in  a  native  hut  on  a  hillside  and 
slept  on  the  ¥ang,  an  article  of  furniture  which  no 
traveler  in  Western  China  soon  forgets.  The  h'ang  is 
a  sort  of  elevation  built  across  one  end  of  the  room,  re- 
sembling a  hollow  platform,  the  top  sometimes  cov- 
ered with  flat  stones.  It  serves  the  purpose  of  all  the 
principal  articles  of  furniture  in  an  occidental  house — 
chairs,  stove,  bed  and  table.  It  is  warmed  by  a  fire 
placed  in  the  box,  and,  when  the  surface  is  moderately 
heated,  one  may  recline  with  comfort;  but  on  this 
night  the  Ic'ang  was  so  hot  that  we  soon  became  uncom- 
fortable, being  almost  roasted  on  one  side  and  frozen 
on  the  other.     We  were  finally  obliged  to  get  up  and 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  19 

rake  out  all  the  fire,  and  at  last  fell  asleep  from  sheer 
exhaustion  and  despair. 

A  foreigner's  passport  in  China  enables  him  to  pass 
free  of  charge  all  customs,  and  also  the  ferries  that  are 
usually  found,  in  lieu  of  bridges,  plying  across  all  the 
rivers  of  considerable  size  which  cut  the  great  high- 
ways. The  ferry  which  took  us  across  one  large  river 
was  crowded  with  people  going  to  market  on  the  other 
side,  paying  their  passage,  some  with  vegetables,  some 
with  cash.  The  ferryman  collected  the  fee  as  he  sat  on 
the  ground  in  front  of  his  straw  wigwam.  After  con- 
gratulating ourselves  on  the  safe  passage  of  the  river, 
one  of  the  wheels  of  our  heaviest  cart  sank  fast  in  the 
sand,  and  two  extra  mules  had  to  be  hitched  on  to  pull 
it  out. 

Our  carters  were  interesting  fellows,  but  their  knowl- 
edge of  Chinese  politics,  as  of  things  in  general,  was 
limited.  Referring  to  the  war  with  Japan,  one  of  them 
informed  us  that  Li  Hung  Chang  had  been  made  Em- 
peror of  China.  Some  of  the  people  through  whose 
territory  we  passed  had  heard  nothing  of  the  war,  and 
others  said  that  the  Emperor's  subjects  in  France  had 
lebelled  ! 

China  is  favorable  soil  for  the  flourishing  of  the 
older  cults.  Buddhism,  Confucianism  and  Taoism 
standing  side  by  side  and  being  largely  intermingled. 
A  Chinaman  may  with  no  sense  of  incongruity  profess 
all  these  beliefs  at  once.  He  would  not  appreciate  Dr. 
Martin's  statement  that  logically  the  three  are  irrecon- 
cilable, Taoism  being  materialism,  Buddhism  idealism, 
and  Confucianism  essentially  ethical.     Like  the  state, 


20  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

he  makes  a  unity  of  them  by  swallowing  a  portion  of 
each.*  As  we  journeyed  onward  the  monuments  to 
this  complex  religious  life  increased  in  abundance. 
Here,  passing  through  a  city,  we  beheld  the  "  gates  of 
virtue,"  immense,  carved  stone  arches  spanning  the 
streets,  and  erected  to  the  memory  of  some  sage,  or 
pious  person;  there,  on  the  hillsides,  reared  to  some 
Buddhist  saint,  "  stones  of  merit,"  on  the  tops  of 
which  little  bells  are  fixed  so  that  the  wind  causes  them 
to  ring  out  the  praises  of  the  great  man  long  since 
passed  away.  Caves  also,  formerly  the  abodes  of  her- 
mits, were  pointed  out  to  us,  and  colossal  statues  of  the 
Buddha  hewn  from  the  solid  rock,  gazing  down  upon 
us  with  an  air  of  sublime  and  majestic  calm,  still  bear- 
ing witness  to  the  zeal  of  the  early  Buddhist  hhikshus 
who  wandered  forth  from  India  to  make  known  "  the 
Teacher  of  Nirvana  and  the  Law."  In  Western 
China  nearly  every  farm  has  its  contiguous  graveyard 
in  which  may  be  seen  the  tables  whereon  the  people 
place  their  offerings  to  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  As  we 
reflected  on  the  part  that  the  great  non-Christian  reli- 
gions have  played  in  China,  and  on  the  deep-grained, 
age-long  impress  they  have  made  upon  her  people,  the 
magnitude  of  our  mission  to  a  people  not  less  religious, 
more  superstitious,  and  enchained  in  a  denser  igno- 
rance and  a  more  blighting  system,  grew  upon  us  in 
unwonted  realization.  Yet  our  faith  did  not  waver. 
In  much  weakness  we  were  going  to  undertake  a  stu- 
pendous task — not  in  our  own  strength  but  in  His  who 
when  He  commanded  His  disciples  to  "  go  and  make 

*  A  Cycle  of  Cathay,  p.  289. 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BOEDER  21 

disciples  of  all  the  nations,"  also  promised  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  all  the  days,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Crossing  a  stone  bridge  of  stately  and  antique  archi- 
tecture, we  reached  the  city  of  Signan,  the  old  impe- 
rial capital  of  China,  and  at  present  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  Shensi.  Here  our  carters  made  arrange- 
ments with  other  carters  to  take  us  on  to  Lancheo,  they 
themselves  returning  to  Fancheng.  Signan  is  the  most 
important  trade  centre  of  the  northern  interior,  the 
home  of  the  Emperor  of  a  former  dynasty,  a  city  of 
heavy  walls,  paved  streets,  stately  palaces  and  hand- 
some governmental  buildings.  It  is  the  site  of  the 
famous  Nestorian  tablet  which  bears  record  of  Chris- 
tian missions  in  China  as  early  as  the  seventh  century 
of  our  era.  The  surrounding  country,  relieved  by  un- 
dulating hills,  is  particularly  charming;  great  roads 
branch  off  in  all  directions,  two  of  the  main  ones  lead- 
ing to  Kansu.  The  merchants  of  Signan  carry  on 
trade  in  all  the  surrounding  provinces,  and  even  in 
Mongolia,  Tibet  and  Turkestan. 

With  our  new  carters  we  set  out  once  more,  although 
unfortunately  for  us  it  was  the  Chinese  New  Year,  and 
consequently  very  difficult  to  buy  food,  as  during  that 
festive  season  all  the  shops  are  closed  for  days  together. 
However,  we  did  not  wish  to  tarry  at  Signan.  Bright, 
sunny  days  and  cloudless  skies,  with  nothing  more  ad- 
verse than  an  occasional  wind  or  dust  storm,  such  as 
are  common  in  Western  China,  seemed  to  us  to  be 
favorable  conditions  for  pressing  on. 

One  of  the  important  functions  in  connection  with 
the  celebration  of  the  New  Year  is  the  lantern  festival 


22  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

observed  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  first  moon.  Arriving 
at  a  large  city  one  night,  intending  to  put  up  at  an  inn 
in  the  suburbs,  we  found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  the 
festival.  The  long  street  was  lined  on  either  side  with 
lighted  lanterns  of  exquisite  and  varied  designs. 
Crowds  of  people  surged  up  and  down,  and  all  was  life, 
movement  and  jubilation — a  weird  scene,  the  moon 
shining  down  in  icy  calmness  upon  it  all.  Our  horses 
becoming  frightened  at  the  tumult  and  glare  of  light 
and  at  the  passing  of  a  long  string  of  camels  with  ring- 
ing bells,  almost  upset  our  carts  in  their  frantic  efforts 
to  hide  somewhere.  We  thus  attracted  attention  even 
against  our  will,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  we  our- 
selves avoided  being  mobbed.  Eelieved  indeed  we  felt 
when  we  reached  a  miserable  inn,  which  in  our  thoughts 
was  transformed  almost  into  a  palace,  as  it  afforded 
us  a  haven  of  rest  and  safety  from  that  brilliantly 
lighted  festive  street. 

It  was  a  happy  day  for  us  when  we  reached  Laneheo, 
the  capital  of  Kansu,  for  we  had  looked  forward  to  a 
few  days'  respite  in  that  city.  Shortly  after  we  had 
taken  up  quarters  in  an  inn,  Mr.  Mason,  of  the  China 
Inland  Mission,  came  with  a  message  from  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Redfern,  extending  to  us  a  pressing  invitation  to  stop 
at  their  home.  He  had  brought  the  mission  cart  to 
transport  us,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves  enjoying  the 
hospitality  of  the  missionaries.  At  Laneheo  we  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Wu,  a  Chinaman  who  had 
studied  eight  years  in  America,  making  a  specialty  of 
telegraphy.  He  had  been  up  in  the  new  province  super- 
intending the  laying  of  telegraph  lines,  and  in  com- 


BORDER  T^•PKS 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BORDER  23 

pany  with  his  companions  in  Lancheo,  was  now  return- 
ing to  Peking.  The  day  before  we  had  arrived  he  had 
entertained  Messrs.  Redfern  and  Mason  at  a  feast  in  a 
restaurant,  where,  of  course,  according  to  Chinese  eti- 
quette, ladies  could  not  be  present.  Wishing  to  enter- 
tain us  all,  he  prepared  a  second  feast,  which  was  served 
in  the  sitting-room  of  the  mission  house,  so  that  the 
ladies  might  with  propriety  attend.  Everything,  in- 
cluding dishes,  was  brought  from  the  restaurant.  While 
on  the  road  we  had  had  considerable  practice  in  using 
chopsticks,  and  we  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  food,  which 
was  dainty  to  the  palate  and  artistic  in  appearance. 
Knowing  our  views  regarding  the  use  of  wine  as  a  bev- 
erage, Mr.  Wu  had  provided  delicious  tea  in  elegantly 
decorated  covered  china  cups,  and  sweatmeats  by  way 
of  compensation.  Chinese  politeness  ruled  the  feast, 
each  one  helping  with  his  own  chopsticks  another  to 
whom  he  wished  to  show  courtesy.  Among  the  many 
delicacies  there  was  a  sucking  pig  cut  into  little  pieces 
and  cooked  in  a  perfect  manner,  also  bamboo  sprouts, 
lily  tubers  and  other  dishes  of  which  at  the  time  we 
did  not  even  know  the  names.  Western  people  are  mis- 
taken who  imagine  that  the  only  items  in  the  Chinese 
menu  are  rice  and  rats.  As  cooks  the  Chinese  vie  even 
with  the  French,  and  some  of  the  most  delicious  meals 
we  partook  of  while  abroad  were  prepared  by  the  Chi- 
nese. In  acknowledgment  of  Mr.  Wu's  hospitality, 
Mrs.  Redfern  in  turn  prepared  a  feast  for  him;  it  was 
a  proper  English  dinner,  with  several  kinds  of  dessert; 
yet  we  must  confess,  in  point  of  delicacy  the  Chinese 
feast  was  superior. 


24  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

After  a  few  days,  Mr.  Eijnhart  and  Mr.  Ferguson 
went  up  the  big  cart  road  to  Sining  with  the  luggage, 
while  I  remained  behind  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kedfern, 
until  Mr.  Eijnhart,  who  would  go  on  from  Sining  to 
Lusar  to  rent  a  house,  should  return  for  me.  I  shall  ever 
gratefully  remember  the  intervening  pleasant  days  spent 
at  Lancheo  and  the  kindness  received  from  the  mission- 
aries. Within  a  few  days  Mr.  Eijnhart  came  back  and 
announced  that  he  had  been  successful  in  leasing  a 
house,  but  that  considerable  repairs  would  be  necessary. 
We  left  the  next  day  for  Sining,  Mr.  Eijnhart  riding  on 
a  horse  and  I  on  a  donkey,  both  of  which  had  been  gen- 
erously loaned  us  by  Mr.  Eidley,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission  of  Sining.  The  two  animals  had  been  com- 
panions for  so  long  that  wherever  the  horse  led  the 
donkey  followed,  a  fact  which  I  appreciated  on  this,  my 
first  donkey  ride,  as  it  solved  for  me  the  anticipated 
difficulty  of  guiding  one  of  these  proverbially  stubborn 
animals  along  steep  and  difficult  paths.  Not  far  from 
Lancheo  we  arrived  at  the  branch  of  the  Great  Wall 
which  crosses  the  Yellow  Eiver,  and  found  the  ancient 
structure  in  a  very  dilapidated  condition,  broken  by 
great  gaps  and  much  worn  by  the  rains  of  centuries. 
It  was  not  more  than  five  feet  in  height,  and  however 
effective  a  defence  it  once  may  have  been  against  the 
incursions  of  Turks,  Mongols  and  Manchus,  it  would 
not  be  a  serious  obstacle  before  a  modern  army.  There 
are  two  roads  from  Lancheo  to  Sining;  one  for  cart, 
the  other  for  mule  travel.  The  carts  make  the  journey 
by  the  "  big  road  "  in  ten  days ;    by  the  "  short  road '' 


TO  THE  TIBETAN  BOEDER  25 

over  the  mountains,  the  one  we  had  chosen,  mules  ar- 
rive in  half  the  time. 

The  Kansu  country  presents  an  elevation  varying,  ac- 
cording to  Eockhill's  itinerary,  from  four  thousand  to 
nine  thousand  feet.  Hilly  ridges  run  in  several  direc- 
tions, sheltering  from  the  cold  winds  the  fruitful  valleys, 
remarkable  for  their  luxuriant  production  of  grapes, 
melons,  peaches,  apricots  and  all  kinds  of  grain. 
Around  the  city  of  Lancheo  tobacco  is  grown  in  large 
quantities  and  forms  the  basis  of  the  city's  industry. 
Part  of  our  route  lay  beside  the  Yellow  River,  and  for 
a  time,  also,  we  followed  the  rushing  waters  of  the 
Hsi-ho,  one  of  its  tributaries.  We  saw  Mohammedan 
merchants  coming  down  the  river  with  their  cargoes  of 
vegetable  oil,  destined  for  the  Lancheo  market,  on 
rude  floats  made  of  inflated  cowhides  lashed  together. 
How  exciting  it  was  to  see  the  skillful  boatmen  guide 
one  of  these  heavily  laden  floats  around  a  sharp  bend 
in  the  river,  where  the  water  boiled  and  foamed  over 
the  shallows.  Just  when  it  seemed  certain  that  de- 
struction against  some  sharp  ledge  awaited  the  craft, 
by  a  dexterous  thrust  it  would  be  sent  out  into  the  cur- 
rent and  carried  past  the  point  of  danger  amid  the 
shouts  of  all  the  spectators. 

Passing  over  the  ruins  of  many  villages  which  had 
been  devastated  in  the  Mohammedan  rebellion  of  1861- 
74,  we  came  eventually  to  a  narrow  gorge  of  consider- 
able historical  importance.  Ascending  the  road  that 
skirts  the  precipice,  we  saw  the  river  boiling  below, 
beating  itself  into  foaming  rage  in  protest  against  its 
sudden  limitation.     It  was  in  this  pass  that  the  Mo- 


26  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

hammedans  held  the  Chinese  army  at  ba}^  during  that 
bloody  period  forever  memorable  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Kansu,  and  where  again,  in  1895,  they  placed  them- 
selves thousands  strong,  and  sought  to  repeat  the  tac- 
tic. Little  did  we  think,  as  we  passed  along  the  river 
edge  on  a  beautiful  sunny  day,  beneath  an  over-arching 
sky  of  cloudless  blue,  and  amid  the  peaceful  solitude 
of  the  mountains,  broken  only  by  the  j)atter  of  the  ani- 
mals' hoofs  and  the  low  monotonous  thud  of  plunging 
torrents,  that  this  very  place  was  within  a  few  weeks  to 
be  again  the  scene  of  military  tumult,  filled  with  le- 
gions of  infuriated,  bloodthirsty  rebels;  and  we 
dreamed  even  less  that  the  massing  of  the  Mohamme- 
dans here  to  check  the  advance  of  the  Chinese  army, 
was  to  be  the  providential  dispensation  which  would 
prevent  them  from  sweeping  down  on  Lusar  and  Kum- 
bum,  where  they  would  have  found  us  an  easy  prey. 

The  people  of  Kansu  we  found  to  be  gentle  and 
obliging.  They  quite  sustained  their  reputation  of 
being  less  disagreeable  than  the  natives  of  other  prov- 
inces, for  they  treated  us  with  the  utmost  kindness  and 
did  all  in  their  power  to  expedite  our  journey.  On  the 
fifth  day  after  our  departure  from  Lancheo  the  walls 
of  Sining  loomed  in  the  distance,  and  we  were  within 
the  gates  in  time  for  afternoon  tea  at  the  China  Inland 
Mission  Home,  where  we  were  cordially  welcomed  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ridley  and  ]\Ir.  Hall.  Fifty  U  westward 
lay  Lusar,  where  our  house  had  already  been  secured, 
and  the  glittering  turrets  of  the  great  Buddhist  lama- 
sery of  Kumbum. 


CHAPTER   II 

AMOXG     THE     LAMAS 

Arrival  at  Lusar — Strange  Lama  Ceremonies — Medical 
Work — Our  Tibetan  Teacher — First  Experience  With 
Robber  Nomads. 

The  western  portion  of  the  province  of  Kansu,  vari- 
ously denominated  by  geographers  as  part  of  Chinese 
or  Outer  Tibet,  is  known  to  the  Tibetans  as  Amdo,  and 
the  inhabitants  are  called  Amdo-wa.  According  to 
Chinese  ethnographers  the  foreign  population  of  Amdo 
may  be  divided  into  two  great  classes,  the  T'u-fan,  or 
"  agricultural  barbarians,"  who  have  a  large  admix- 
ture of  Chinese  blood,  and  the  Si-fan,  or  "  western  bar- 
barians," who  are  of  pure  Tibetan  stock.  The  Si-fan 
live,  for  the  most  part,  a  nomadic  life  and  are  organ- 
ized into  a  number  of  bands  under  hereditary  chiefs 
responsible  to  the  Chinese  Amban  at  Sining,  to  whom 
they  pay  tribute.  Chinese  authors  further  say  that  the 
present  mixed  population  of  Amdo  is  the  progeny  of 
many  distinct  aboriginal  tribes,  but  there  are  some  ele- 
ments of  it  that  must  be  accounted  for  by  later  immi- 
grations. Westward  from  Sining  the  road  leads 
through  a  highly  cultivated  plateau ;  the  farms  are 
watered  by  a  perfect   system  of  artificial   irrigation, 

27 


28  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

bearing  evidence  of  the  industry  and  skill  of  the  peas- 
ants. The  houses  in  the  villages  are  all  built  of  mud 
and  have  flat  roofs.  On  the  road  one  meets  groups  of 
merchants,  partly  Chinese,  but  bearing  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  Turk  and  distinguished  by  a  headdress 
which  seems  to  be  a  cross  between  a  Chinese  cap  and  a 
Moslem  turban.  These  are  Mohammedans  going 
down  to  trade  in  Sining.  Next  comes  creeping  along 
a  small  caravan  of  camel-mounted  Mongolians  or  Tib- 
etans, clad  in  their  ugly  sheepskin  gowns  and  big  fur 
caps,  on  their  way  to  see  the  Amban  of  Sining,  or  per- 
haps going  to  Eastern  Mongolia  or  Pekin;  or  one  may 
meet  a  procession  of  swarthy  faced  Tibetan  pilgrims 
returning  single  file,  with  slow  and  stately  tread,  from 
some  act  of  worship  at  Kumbum,  to  their  homes  in  the 
valleys  north  of  Sining.  The  entire  western  portion 
of  Kansu,  so  far  as  its  inhabitants  are  concerned,  marks 
the  transition  between  a  purely  Chinese  population  and 
a  foreign  people,  the  Chinese  predominating  in  the 
larger  centers  but  the  villages  and  encampments  being 
made  up  largely  of  foreign  or  mongrel  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Rijnhart  had  left  me  at  Sining  and  had  gone  on 
to  Lusar  to  complete  the  preparation  of  our  house; 
but  I  had  become  impatient,  not  having  too  much  con- 
fidence in  masculine  ability  to  set  a  house  in  order  in 
a  way  altogether  pleasing  to  a  woman,  so  I  rode  up  to 
Lusar  with  Mr.  Hall.  Half  a  day's  journey  brought  us 
within  sight  of  the  hills  that  surround  Kumbum,  and 
as  we  approached  we  could  see  some  of  the  lamas  at- 
tending to  their  horses  or  gathering  fuel.  But  the 
strangest  sight  of  all  was  that  of  Mr.  Eijnhart  and  Mr. 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  29 

Ferguson  in  European  clothing;  so  accustomed  had  our 
eyes  become  to  oriental  attire  that  they  appeared  more 
grotesque  even  than  any  of  the  fantastically  arrayed 
travelers  we  had  met  on  the  road.  Assisted  by  some 
native  carpenters,  they  had  been  very  busy  at  the  house, 
but  when  I  arrived  I  found  everything  in  confusion, 
just  as  I  had  anticipated.  Yet  I  was  thankful  that  our 
long  Journey  had  been  completed,  not  a  single  accident 
worthy  the  name  having  happened  to  us  since  we  left 
the  Pacific  Coast  of  America  six  months  before. 

Lusar  boasts  of  a  single  main  street  with  mud-brick 
flat-roofed  buildings  on  either  side,  and,  at  the  time  of 
our  arrival,  contained  about  one  thousand  inhabitants, 
evenly  divided  between  Mohammedans  and  Chinese, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  Tibetans  and  Mongols.  These  dif- 
ferent peoples  could  be  distinguished  by  their  general 
appearance  as  well  as  by  their  speech.  The  Mongol, 
with  his  broad,  flat,  good-natured  countenance  and 
short-cut  hair,  clad  in  his  long  sheepskin  robe,  with 
his  matchlock  thrown  over  his  shoulder,  could  not  be 
mistaken  as  he  waddled  through  the  street  followed  by 
his  wife  a  few  paces  behind  him;  the  pure  Tibetan, 
likewise  robed  in  sheepskin,  heralded  his  nationality 
by  the  sword  he  carried  in  his  belt.  To  mistake  a 
Chinaman  was,  of  course,  beyond  question,  while  the 
Mohammedan  of  Turkestani  origin  could  be  recognized 
by  his  aquiline  nose,  slender  face  and  straggling  beard 
or  moustache.  Being  the  trading  station  of  the  Kum- 
bum  lamasery  Lusar  is  visited  by  merchants  from 
China,  Mongolia  and  various  parts  of  Tibet.  Especially 
during  the  great  religious  festivals  held  from  time  to 


30  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

time  at  the  lamasery  a  brisk  trade  is  done  in  altar- 
lamps,  charm-boxes,  idols,  prayer-wheels  and  the  other 
paraphernalia  of  Buddhist  worship.  Near  the  village 
is  a  remnant  of  an  old  wall  which  evidently  at  some 
time  had  been  used  as  a  rampart  of  defence.  In  Hue 
and  Gabet's  narrative  no  mention  is  made  of  Lusar  for 
the  reason  that  it  probably  did  not  exist  when  these 
travelers  passed  that  way,  the  business  of  the  Kumbum 
lamasery  being  done  formerly  at  Shen-ch'un,  a  few 
miles  distant  from  Kumbum. 

The  Chinese  carpenters  made  characteristically  slow 
progress  with  our  house.  The  noise  that  accompanied 
the  work  was  at  times  almost  deafening,  the  workmen 
all  shouting  at  once  when  anything  urgent  was  to  be 
done.  The  house,  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  the  fa- 
cade pointing  toward  the  main  street,  was  a  substantial 
mud-brick  structure  with  flat  roof,  built  entirely  ac- 
cording to  Chinese  ideas  of  architecture,  and  after  we 
had  the  premises  put  in  order  the  disposition  of  the 
apartments  was  about  as  follows:  The  main  gate  led 
into  an  outer  courtyard,  walled  but  not  roofed;  from 
the  outer  court  a  dark,  narrow  passage  led  to  the  cen- 
tral or  inner  courtyard,  around  which  the  rooms  were 
arranged  on  all  sides.  In  one  corner  was  the  kitchen, 
and  diagonally  opposite  to  it  a  storeroom,  and  in  an- 
other corner  the  stable,  while  along  the  sides  nearest 
the  entrance  were  the  two  guest-rooms,  one  for  men 
and  the  other  for  women,  the  latter  containing  a  cup- 
board for  drugs.  The  guest-rooms  we  destined  for  the 
reception  of  visitors  coming  for  medical  treatment  or 
to  inquire  about  spiritual  matters.       The  walls  were 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  31 

hung  with  colored  Bible  pictures  which  did  us  good 
service  in  suggesting  topics  for  religious  conversation. 
Many  of  the  pictures  represented  scenes  in  the  life  of 
Christ  and  aroused  the  natives  to  the  asking  of  ques- 
tions which  opened  for  us  golden  opportunities  to  read 
the  New  Testament  and  to  tell  them  more  fully  the 
Gospel  story.  The  furniture  was  plain  and  scant,  a 
large  table  four  feet  square,  a  few  high,  straight-backed 
and  very  uncomfortable  chairs,  and  the  indispensable 
h'ang.  Opposite  the  guest-rooms  were  our  dining- 
room,  study  and  bedroom.  On  the  two  remaining  sides 
were  Mr.  Ferguson's  apartments,  our  Chinese  servant's 
bedroom  and  a  sitting-room  where  we  all  met  for 
prayer,  Bible  study  and  conversation.  Access  to  the 
flat  roof  of  the  house  could  be  had  by  means  of  a  ladder, 
and  oftentimes  when  the  weather  was  fine  we  repaired 
thither  to  take  our  constitutional,  or  to  sit  basking  in 
the  sun.  Behind  the  house  on  the  hill  we  afterwards 
prepared  quite  a  large  piece  of  garden,  in  which  we 
raised  several  kinds  of  vegetables  from  seeds  sent  to  us 
by  a  friend  in  Canada.  Our  housekeeping  was  reduced 
to  simplicity.  Han-kia,  our  Chinese  "  boy,"  aged  about 
twenty-two  years,  soon  learned  under  my  tuition  to  pre- 
pare many  kinds  of  food  in  English  or  American  style, 
and  twice  a  week  he  regaled  us  with  m'ien.  Having 
no  oven  in  our  stove,  we  extemporized  one  out  of  a 
paraffin  tin,  in  which  we  could  roast  meat  and  bake 
cookies.  Altogether  we  did  not  fare  badly  at  Lusar; 
in  the  market  we  could  buy  mutton,  eggs,  milk,  vege- 
tables, flour  and  rice.  Custom  soon  introduced  us  to 
our  new  surroundings,  and  when  the  carpenters  had 


32  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

finished,  we  were,  taking  it  all  in  all,  as  happy  in  our 
far-away,  isolated  home  as  we  possibly  could  have  been 
in  America. 

Not  long  after  our  arrival  we  were  visited  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ridley  and  their  little  baby  Dora.  They  had 
come  up  for  the  purpose  of  recuperating  their  health 
among  the  hills,  and  during  their  sojourn  we  witnessed 
the  interesting  ceremony  of  burnt  offerings  celebrated 
near  the  Kumbum  lamasery.  Crowds  of  Chinese  and 
Tibetans,  men,  women  and  children,  had  congregated 
to  see  the  procession  of  lamas  issue  from  their  temple, 
and,  discovering  that  some  foreigners  were  among  the 
throng,  they  turned  their  attention  to  us,  almost  over- 
whelming us  with  their  friendly  curiosity.  It  seemed 
at  times  that  we  would  be  crushed  to  death.  Being  sur- 
rounded we  could  not  return  home,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  devise  at  once  some  means  of  protection. 
Inviting  the  native  women  to  sit  down  beside  us  we 
were  soon  in  the  midst  of  a  large  group  squatting 
tailor-fashion  about  us,  serving  as  an  effective  bulwark, 
preventing  the  crowd  from  surging  in  upon  us.  Mrs. 
Eidley  drew  the  women  into  an  interesting  conversa- 
tion, taxed  to  the  utmost  all  the  while  to  keep  them 
from  laying  violent  hands  on  her  baby. 

The  Tibetan  women  were  to  us  an  especial  object  of 
interest,  conspicuous  in  their  long,  bright  colored 
dresses  fastened  around  the  waist  by  green  or  red 
sashes,  their  clumsy  top-boots  and  their  elaborate  head 
dress.  The  hair  was  done  up  in  a  number  of  small 
plaits  which  hung  clown  the  back  and  were  fastened 
together  with  wide  strips  of  gay  colored  cloth,  or  by 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  33 

a  heavy  band  of  pasteboard  or  felt  covered  with  silver 
ornaments,  shells  and  beads,  and  on  top  of  it  all  was 
a  hat  with  white  fur  brim  and  red  tassels  hanging 
from  the  pointed  crown.  From  the  ears  were  pendant 
great  rings,  to  which  were  attached  strings  of  beads 
hanging  in  long  loops  across  the  breast.  The  Chinese 
women  with  no  hats,  their  black  hair  shining  with 
linseed  water,  their  common  blue  dresses  and  deformed 
feet,  were  not  nearly  so  attractive  as  their  neighbors, 
the  Tibetans. 

Presently  the  sound  of  horns,  cymbals  and  gongs 
announced  the  approach  of  the  procession,  and  all  in 
confusion  rushed  off  to  see  the  sight.  Hundreds  of 
lamas,  clad  in  their  flowing  robes,  issued  with  solemn 
tread  from  the  lamasery,  some  of  them  carrying  large, 
irregular  wooden  frames  painted  red,  blue  and  yellow, 
and  huge  bundles  of  straw.  The  frames  were  set  up  in 
an  open  place,  the  straw  arranged  around  them,  and 
the  ceremony  of  burnt  offerings  was  ready  to  begin. 
The  lamas  fired  off  guns,  chanted  some  unintelligible 
incantations,  blew  deafening  blasts  on  their  gigantic 
horns,  and  then  set  fire  to  the  straw.  The  frames 
were  soon  reduced  to  ashes,  and  the  purpose  of  the  cere- 
mony, we  learned,  was  to  ward  off  the  demons  of 
famine,  disease  and  war. 

As  soon  as  the  people  found  out  that  we  were  pre- 
pared to  treat  their  ailments  and  dispense  medicines 
they  came  to  us  quite  freely.  The  Chinese  were  the 
first  to  approach  us,  but  soon  the  Tibetans  came,  even 
the  lamas,  and  it  was  not  long  before  we  had  as  much 
medical  and  resultant  guest-room  work  as  we  could 


34:  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

attend  to.  As  it  is  impossible  to  get  a  crowd  of 
Tibetans  to  listen  to  a  discourse,  our  evangelistic  work 
consisted  chiefly  in  conversing  upon  Christianity  with 
the  people  who  came  to  see  us,  and  from  the  very  be- 
ginning we  were  able  to  interest  them  in  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament.  The  Tibetans  themselves  hav- 
ing no  medical  science  worthy  the  name,  the  treat- 
ment given  by  the  native  doctors  generally  means  an 
increase  of  agony  to  the  sufferer.  For  headache  large 
sticking  plasters  are  applied  to  the  patient's  head  and 
forehead;  for  rheumatics  often  a  needle  is  buried  in 
the  arm  or  shoulder;  a  tooth  is  extracted  by  tying  a 
rope  to  it  and  jerking  it  out,  sometimes  bringing  out  a 
part  of  the  jaw  at  the  same  time;  a  sufferer  with 
stomachache  may  be  subjected  to  a  good  pounding, 
or  to  the  application  of  a  piece  of  wick  soaked  in  burn- 
ing butter  grease;  or  if  medicine  is  to  be  taken  in- 
ternally it  will  consist  probably  of  a  piece  of  paper  on 
which  a  prayer  is  written,  rolled  up  into  the  form  of 
a  pellet,  and  if  this  fails  to  produce  the  desired  effect 
another  pellet  is  administered,  composed  of  the  bones 
of  some  pious  priest. 

Although  the  natives  appear  to  have  great  faith  in 
the  native  doctors,  yet  they  were  quick  to  bestow  their 
patronage  upon  us.  Among  the  common  ailments  we 
were  called  upon  to  treat  were  diphtheria,  rheumatism, 
dyspepsia,  besides  many  forms  of  skin  and  eye  disease. 
One  morning  a  woman  brought  to  us  her  husband,  who 
was  suffering  from  diphtheria,  and  asked  us  to  give  him 
medicine.  After  explaining  that  the  disease  was  very 
fatal,  and  that  her  husband  was  so  ill  that  he  would 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  35 

probably  die^  adding  that  we  would  not  be  responsible 
if  he  did,  we  gave  him  what  treatment  we  could,  includ- 
ing some  medicine  to  be  taken  at  home.  The  next 
morning  his  wife  came  to  announce  that  he  could  not 
take  the  medicine.  I  then  offered  to  go  to  the  house, 
purposing  to  clear  away  some  of  the  membrane  and 
relieve  the  sufferer,  but  on  our  arrival  we  found  that 
a  lama  had  pasted  a  notice  on  the  door  forbidding  any- 
one to  enter  because,  he  said,  a  devil  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  house.  We  were  obliged  to  turn  away  and 
our  hearts  were  saddened  to  hear  two  days  later  that 
the  man  and  also  one  of  his  little  children  had  died. 
Since  it  was  our  intention  to  work  principally  among 
the  Tibetans,  we  at  once  faced  the  problem  of  acquir- 
ing the  language,  although  we  might  have  got  along 
with  Chinese  alone  since  all  the  Tibetans  on  the  frontier 
speak  that  language  as  well  as  their  own;  but  knowing 
that  the  Tibetan  language  would  be  to  us  a  means  of 
closer  communication  with  the  natives,  we  set  about 
to  find  a  teacher.  As  the  lamas  are  the  sole  possessors 
of  Tibetan  letters,  the  great  masses  of  the  lay 
population  being  unable  either  to  read  or  write,  they 
were  not  over  pleased  with  the  thought  of  communicat- 
ing their  sacred  language  to  "  foreign  devils,''  and  we 
had  great  difficulty  in  persuading  any  one  to  teach  us. 
Finally  a  young,  rather  good  looking  lama,  named 
Ishinima,*  consented  to  give  us  instruction  for  a 
nominal  sum,  on  condition  that  we  would  not  let  it 
be  known,  for  he  seemed  very  much  afraid  lest  some- 
one might  accuse  him  before  the  sung  huan,  or  dis- 

*  Pronounce  E-sbe^-ne-ma. 


36  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ciplinarian  of  the  lamasery,  of  being  on  too  friendly 
terms  with  the  foreigners ;  for  of  course  as  yet  we  were 
looked  upon  with  more  or  less  reserve  and  perhaps  with 
a  little  suspicion.  Ishinima  was  of  medium  height, 
well  built,  and  favored  the  Mongolian  type  rather  than 
the  Tibetan,  although  he  always  said  that  he  was  of  the 
latter  parentage.  His  face  was  pockmarked,  but  not 
devoid  of  expression,  and  when  he  smiled  his  whole 
countenance  glowed  with  good  humor.  He  did  not  be- 
long to  the  highest  class  of  lamas,  yet,  not  having 
to  do  menial  work,  he  was  well  dressed,  wearing  the 
lama's  ordinary  habit — a  sleeveless  red  jacket,  a  full 
skirt  girded  around  the  waist,  and  a  long,  wide  scarf 
carelessly,  yet  always  in  the  same  manner,  thrown 
about  the  shoulders.  His  garments  were  dirty,  but  not 
ragged.  The  first  money  he  received  in  payment  for 
his  lessons  he  invested  in  cloth  at  Sining,  and  I  made 
him  garments  of  it  on  my  sewing  machine.  He  told 
us  that  the  lamas  were  not  allowed  to  wear  sleeves, 
trousers  or  socks  except  upon  special  occasions,  and 
added  that  on  this  point  the  lamasery  had  a  code  of 
very  strict  laws,  violation  of  which  entailed  severe  pun- 
ishment, sometimes  even  expulsion.  Though  Ishinima 
could  read  the  Tibetan  character  well,  we  found  to 
our  disappointment  that  he  could  not  explain  it  at  all, 
so  our  lessons  took  a  more  practical  turn,  we  giving  him 
Chinese  words  and  phrases  which  he  translated  for  us 
into  Tibetan.  He  came  to  teach  us  every  day  except 
Sunday,  on  which  day  he  always  attended  the  religious 
service  held  in  the  guest-room. 

Tibetan    belongs,    philologically,    to    the    Turanian 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  37 

family  of  languages.  It  is  essentially  monosyllabic, 
resembling  in  this  respect  many  of  the  languages  of  our 
North  American  Indians.  The  verb  system  is  built 
up  on  roots  with  prefixes  and  affixes,  the  syntax  is  com- 
paratively uninvolved  and  the  idioms  clear  and  ex- 
pressive. The  alphabet,  adapted  from  the  Sanskrit  by 
Tou-mi-sam-bho-ta,  a  noted  Tibetan  scholar  and  states- 
man, about  623  A.  D.,  affords  a  character  simple  and 
easily  formed,  contrasting  strongly  with  the  cumbrous 
glyphics  of  the  Chinese.  There  are  two  principal 
dialects  of  the  language — Lhasa  Tibetan,  supposed  to 
be  the  standard  of  excellence,  and  Eastern  Tibetan, 
which  varies  from  it  to  a  considerable  degree.  The 
Koko-nor  Tibetans,  in  fact,  have  great  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  speech  of  Lhasa  traders  and  lamas. 
For  colloquial  purposes  we  were  particularly  interested 
in  the  Eastern  Tibetan,  though  of  course  if  one  desires 
to  read,  the  Lhasa  dialect  must  be  learned,  as  that  is 
the  literary  language  of  the  country. 

Our  professor  yielded  to  none  in  the  matter  of  un- 
cleanliness,  hence  we  made  it  our  endeavor  to  instill 
into  his  mind  some  idea  of  hygiene.  After  some  in- 
struction he  learned  to  use  the  towel  and  soap,  and 
though  the  lamas  have  a  rule  not  to  allow  scissors  to 
touch  their  heads  when  having  their  hair  cut,  he  al- 
lowed his  head  to  be  shaved  by  the  clippers,  which 
were  an  endless  source  of  wonder  and  interest  to  the 
natives.  By  degrees  he  took  on  an  appearance  of  de- 
cency, and  began  to  show  some  signs  of  interest  in  new 
ideas.  Being  somewhat  of  an  epicure  he  went  freely 
into  the  kitchen,  supervising  the  preparation  of  the 


38  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

dainties  for  which  he  had  a  preference.  He  taught 
our  Chinese  servant  to  make  oma-ja,  a  decoction  which 
the  Tibetans  drink  with  great  relish.  The  ingredients 
are  implied  in  the  name — a  piece  of  brick-tea  is  put 
into  a  pot  of  water  and  allowed  to  boil  a  few  minutes, 
then  about  half  as  much  milk  as  water  is  added,  and 
the  whole  brought  to  boiling  point  again.  When  later 
we  were  without  a  servant,  our  boy  having  gone  to 
enlist  as  a  soldier,  Ishinima  would  make  the  m'ien. 
Instead  of  cutting  it  into  strips  he  would  cut  it  into 
squares,  and  add  it  to  water,  meat  and  vegetables, 
making  a  palatable  and  substantial  dish.  Though  we 
studied  hard  at  our  Tibetan  and  endeavored  to  under- 
stand  the  people  and  to  communicate  with  them,  we 
did  not  make  the  progress  we  should  have  made,  the 
cause  of  this  being  that  he  taught  us  a  mixture  of 
Tibetan  and  Mongolian,  which  was  to  a  large  extent 
unintelligible  to  either  people.  In  this  and  other 
things  we  found  him  unreliable,  and  some  of  his  actions 
bordered  on  dishonesty. 

Soon  after  we  had  made  his  acquaintance,  Ishinima 
invited  us  to  his  home  in  the  Kumbum  lamasery,  and, 
having  set  his  house  in  order  for  our  visit,  he  came  to 
escort  us  thither.  Crossing  the  ravine  which  divides 
Kumbum  into  two  sections,  and  threading  our  way 
along  narrow  alleys  and  past  rows  of  whitewashed 
dwellings,  we  finally  stood  before  one  of  the  outermost 
and  best  houses  of  the  lamasery.  The  courtyard  presented 
a  tidy  appearance,  and  was  graced  by  a  flower  garden 
in  the  center,  in  which  some  yellow  poppies  were  in 
bloom.     Several  red-robed  lamas  with  bare  heads  and 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  39 

smiling  faces  gave  us  a  Mongol  welcome,  holding  out 
toward  us  both  hands  with  the  palms  turned  upward, 
and  immediately  ushered  us  through  a  small  room  into 
a  still  smaller  one,  of  which  the  h'ang  covered  the  en- 
tire floor.  Upon  the  door  hung  a  curtain,  laden  with 
the  dust  and  grease  of  ages.  The  furniture  was  that 
usually  found  in  a  lama's  home.  There  was  the 
k'ang  table,  about  ten  inches  in  height,  on  which  were 
placed  some  china  basins,  a  brightly-painted  tsamha 
dish,  and  a  wooden  plate  containing  bread  fried  in 
oil,  none  too  inviting  either  by  its  taste  or  smell.  The 
walls  of  the  room  were  adorned  with  the  pictures  which 
we  ourselves  had  given  to  our  host,  and  which  with 
their  western  flavor  seemed  quite  out  of  keeping  with 
the  rude  interior.  During  a  very  pleasant  conversation 
about  the  great  monastery  with  its  revered  lamas  and 
sacred  traditions,  about  Lhasa,  the  home  of  Buddhist 
learning,  and  of  the  great  Dalai  Lama,  about  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  and  about  the  great  western 
world,  of  which  Ishinima  knew  next  to  nothing,  we 
drank  tea  and  partook  of  other  refreshments  which  the 
latter  had  prepared  with  his  own  hands.  According  to 
custom  he  offered  us  a  large  lump  of  rancid  butter, 
which,  had  we  been  as  polite  as  our  host,  we  should  have 
dropped  into  our  cup  of  tea  in  lieu  of  sugar ;  but  know- 
ing Ishinima  so  well,  we  refused  the  dainty  morsel,  al- 
though to  have  done  so  under  any  other  circumstances 
would  have  been  considered  little  less  than  insult.  He 
was,  moreover,  so  thoroughly  charmed  with  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart's  telescope  and  camera  that  we  might  have  ignored 
all  Tibetan  politeness  with  impunity. 


40  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

After  tea  we  were  conducted  across  the  courtyard 
to  Ishinima's  private  chapel,  or  room  containing  his 
household  altar  and  instruments  of  worship.  Upon 
the  altar  sat  several  diminutive  but  none  the  less 
hideous  brass  and  clay  idols,  representing  various 
Buddhist  divinities,  before  which  were  burning  small 
butter  lamps,  also  of  brass,  filled  with  melted  butter, 
each  furnished  with  a  wick  and  darting  up  its  little 
flame.  Other  flat  brazen  vessels  of  water,  some  khatas 
or  "  scarfs  of  ceremony  " — narrow  strips  of  veil-like 
cloth,  corresponding  in  use  to  the  western  carte-de- 
visite — ,  a  few  musty-looking  tomes  of  Buddhist  litera- 
ture, completed  the  equipment  of  this  domestic  sanctu- 
ary. We  found  Ishinima  withal  a  most  genial  host, 
exercising  every  art  within  his  grasp  to  make  our  visit 
pleasant;  yet  we  were  glad  when  the  time  came  to 
return  to  our  own  clean  and  airy  dwelling  at  Lusar, 
and  we  left  conscious  that  we  had  done  Ishinima  good 
service  in  ridding  him  of  a  generous  share  of  the  vermin 
in  his  sacerdotal  abode.  Our  battle  with  this  unwel- 
come company  was  to  begin  when  we  reached  home. 

Through  our  friendship  with  Ishinima  we  gained  a 
knowledge  of  Kumbum  and  all  that  pertained  to  it, 
which  otherwise  we  might  long  have  sought  in  vain. 
Shortly  after  our  visit  to  his  home  he  accompanied  us 
again  to  the  lamasery  to  witness  an  elaborate  cere- 
mony on  the  occasion  of  the  ordination  of  the  priest 
who  was  to  serve  as  lamasery  doctor.  Ishinima  having 
some  scruples  about  appearing  publicly  as  our  guide, 
walked  about  fifty  yards  ahead  of  us,  never,  however, 
turning  a  corner  until  he  assured  himself  that  we  were 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  41 

following.  Having  arrived  in  the  courtyard  of  the 
temple  where  the  ceremony  was  to  be  held,  we  took 
our  places,  Ishinima  standing  at  some  distance  opposite 
us  and  scarcely  taking  his  eye  off  us  from  first  to  last. 
The  walls  of  the  temple  court  were  hung  with  all  man- 
ner of  fantastic  pictures  executed  in  flaming  colors  by 
Chinese  artists.  In  the  middle  of  the  enclosure  was 
a  long  narrow  table,  similar  to  those  often  found  on 
American  picnic  grounds,  on  which  were  placed  rows 
of  decorated  plates  and  brazen  vessels  of  various 
shapes  and  sizes,  containing  tsamba,  rice,  barley,  flour, 
bread,  oil  and  other  eatables.  These,  we  learned,  were 
offerings  which  had  been  brought  to  be  sacrificed  in 
honor  of  the  new  candidate  for  the  position  of  medical 
superintendent.  A  large  crowd  of  spectators  had  con- 
gregated and  were  gazing  with  reverent  and  longing 
looks  upon  the  feast  prepared  for  the  gods,  when  sud- 
denly a  procession  of  about  fifty  lamas  broke  into  the 
courtyard,  arrayed  in  red  and  yellow  robes,  each  one 
carrying  in  his  hand  a  bell.  As  soon  as  they  had  seated 
themselves  on  the  stone  pavement,  the  mainba  fuyeh, 
or  medical  buddha,  came  in  and  took  his  place  on  an 
elevated  wooden  throne  covered  with  crimson  and  yel- 
low cloth.  He  wore  a  tall,  handsomely  embroidered 
hat  and  brilliant  ceremonial  robes,  befitting  the  oc- 
casion. The  ceremony  began  by  a  deafening  clatter 
of  discordant  bells,  each  lama  vying  with  the  others  to 
produce  the  most  noise  from  his  instrument.  The 
music  was  followed  by  the  muttering  of  some  cabalistic 
incantations  and  the  weird  chanting  of  prayers.  Im- 
mediately in  front  of  the  mamba  fuyeh  was  a  large 


42  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

urn  in  the  bottom  of  which  a  fire  was  smoldering,  send- 
ing up  its  vapory  clouds  of  smoke  and  incense.  At  a 
given  signal  some  of  the  lamas  rose  and,  each  one  tak- 
ing up  in  a  ladle  a  portion  of  the  delicious  viands  that 
stood  on  the  table,  walked  gravely  to  the  urn  and 
dropped  it  into  the  fire  as  an  offering  in  honor  of  the 
new  mamba  fuyeli,  and  finally  a  stream  of  liquid  which 
we  took  to  be  some  kind  of  holy  oil  was  poured  in  from 
a  little  brass  pot.  Then  there  were  repetitions  of  the 
prayers,  incantations  and  bell-ringing,  and  it  was  a 
long  time  ere  the  mamba  fuyeh  was  declared  duly  in- 
stalled. The  position  of  medical  lama  is  considered  one 
of  great  importance.  The  office  in  the  Kumbum 
lamasery  is  held  for  varying  periods  of  time,  depend- 
ing partly  on  the  incumbent's  efficiency,  but  more  per- 
haps on  the  number  of  his  influential  friends. 

Like  most  lamas,  Ishinima  had  many  strange  tales 
to  tell  of  the  Koko-nor,  the  blue  inland  sea,  that  lies 
away  to  the  west  of  Lusar  and  Kumbum,  far  up  into 
the  grass  country.  Many  an  evening  he  entertained  us 
detailing  in  reverent  tones  something  of  the  wealth  of 
legend  which  tradition  and  the  popular  fancy  have 
woven  around  that  body  of  water.  It  is  known  by 
Tibetans,  Mongols  and  Chinese,  each  calling  it  by  a 
different  name,  but  the  Mongol  name  "  Koko-nor," 
meaning  "  Blue  Lake,"  seems  to  have  gained  ascend- 
ency. Its  religious  importance  is  recognized  through- 
out a  large  portion  of  Central  Asia.  Even  the  Amban, 
the  Chinese  Ambassador  or  Governor  of  North-eastern 
Tibet,  who  lives  at  Sining,  makes  a  pilgrimage  to 
it  once  a  year  and  pays  it  homage.     The  immediate 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  43 

effect  of  Ishinima's  representations  was  to  arouse  in 
us  an  intense  desire  to  visit  the  lake,  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Koko-nor  tribes  and  to  ascertain 
the  prospects  for  missionary  work  among  them.  As 
Ishinima  had  never  seen  the  lake  himself,  he  seemed 
overjoyed  when  we  asked  him  to  accompany  us. 
The  date  for  the  departure  was  set  in  the  month  of 
June  when  the  hills  had  taken  on  their  luxuriant  car- 
peting of  green,  and  all  nature  seemed  to  conspire  in 
producing  ideal  conditions  for  such  an  excursion.  As 
W.  W.  Rockhill,  the  American  traveler,  had  written 
about  the  opposition  of  the  Amban  and  other  Chinese 
officials  to  Europeans  going  into  the  grass  country,  all 
our  preparations  were  very  quietly  made.  "We  em- 
ployed a  muleteer  with  four  animals,  collected  stores 
for  the  entire  Journey  which,  going  and  returning,  we 
calculated  would  last  about  twelve  days,  and  in  the 
highest  spirits  started  off,  leaving  our  home  in  the  care 
of  a  servant.  Ishinima,  perched  high  on  a  load  con- 
sisting of  the  tent  and  bale  of  food,  wore  a  large  straw 
hat  with  the  wide  brim  of  which  he  carefully  con- 
cealed his  face  until  we  got  out  of  the  locality  where  he 
was  known.  Eeaching  Tankar  late  in  the  evening,  we 
pitched  our  camp  outside  the  gate.  Anxious  to  avoid 
officials,  we  arose  at  daybreak  and  passed  through  the 
town  to  the  west  gate,  being  frequently  accosted  by 
men  who  wanted  to  drag  us  before  the  lao-yeh  at  the 
yamen;  but  we  escaped  into  the  grass  country,  and 
passed  the  monastery  of  Gomba  Soma,  although  every 
one  we  met  was  looked  upon  as  some  official  who  might 
possibly  forbid  us  to  go  any  further.    Ten  miles  from 


44  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Gomba  Soma,  and  still  a  long  way  from  the  lake,  we 
camped  for  breakfast  near  a  bend  of  the  Hsi-ho,  or 
Western  Kiver,  in  a  beautiful  grassy  spot  studded  with 
pink  flowers.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river  was  spread 
a  charming  panorama  of  rolling  hills  which  in  the 
early  morning  looked  like  the  grey,  slumbering  tents  of 
some  giant  army.  Xever  shall  I  forget  the  calm  of 
that  beautiful  day  on  the  oriental  plateau  far  away 
from  the  turmoil  of  civilization,  nor  within  sight  or 
sound  of  the  rudest  encampment  or  settlement  of  any 
kind. 

But  out  of  this  tranquil  environment  there  was  to 
grow  a  great  unrest.  While  Ishinima  was  gather- 
ing argols  (the  Mongolian  word  for  the  dried  excreta 
of  animals  which  the  nomads  use  for  fuel,  and  which 
must  be  used  in  fact  by  all  travelers,  as  these  wild 
regions  are  bare  of  wood)  our  mules  broke  away  from 
their  tether  and  had  soon  scampered  out  of  sight.  Mr. 
Ferguson  and  the  muleteer  set  out  in  search  of  the 
missing  animals.  All  day  Mr.  Eijnhart  and  I  waited, 
wondering  how  both  the  mules  and  pursuers  fared. 
We  knew  nothing  definite  until  Mr.  Ferguson's  return 
at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  he  could  only  an- 
nounce that  no  trace  of  the  runaway  mules  had  been 
found,  and  added,  to  our  horror,  that  he  had  become 
separated  from  the  muleteer  and  did  not  know  what 
fate  might  have  befallen  him.  He  might  have  lost  his 
way  somewhere  on  the  dreary  plain  or  among  the  wind- 
ing hills,  and  there  was  the  graver  possibility  of  his 
having  been  eaten  by  wolves  or  having  fallen  into  the 
Jiands  of   the   redoubtable    Tangut   robbers   who   lurk 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  45 

in  the  ravines  ready  to  pounce  upon  any  prey,  great 
or  small.  Clouds  of  anxiety  hung  on  Ishinima's  dusky 
face.  He  could  not  sleep.  Time  and  time  again  he 
went  outside  the  tent,  casting  his  eyes  far  and  wide  over 
the  starlit  waste,  eager  to  catch  any  sign  of  the  lost 
muleteer,  but  in  vain.  His  anxiety  was  not  without 
cause,  for  if  anything  should  have  happened  to  the 
muleteer  he  would  have  been  held  responsible.  A  feel- 
ing of  insecurity  pervaded  the  whole  camp,  Ishinima 
having  succeeded  in  persuading  us  that  the  Tanguts 
might  swoop  down  upon  us  at  any  moment.  The  agony 
and  stillness  of  that  awful  night,  broken  only  by  the 
subdued  sounds  of  our  own  voices,  the  distant  howl  of 
a  wolf,  and  the  monotonous  babble  of  the  Hsi-ho  rapids, 
were  not  soon  forgotten.  At  daybreak  next  morning, 
just  as  Ishinima  was  preparing  breakfast,  two  of  the 
missing  mules,  quite  mule-like,  returned  of  their  own 
accord,  and  soon  after,  to  our  great  joy,  our  muleteer 
came  running  into  camp.  The  faithful  fellow  had  con- 
tinued his  fruitless  search  away  into  the  night,  and, 
having  lost  his  way,  had  crouched  down  behind  a  rock 
to  rest  till  daybreak;  he  seemed  quite  compensated  for 
his  trouble  on  finding  that  two  of  the  mules  had  come 
back.  One  black  animal  being  still  astray,  Mr.  Fer- 
guson went  out  again  on  the  search.  As  he  did  not 
return  after  an  unaccountably  long  time,  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart  took  the  sweep  of  the  horizon  with  the  telescope 
to  see  if  there  were  any  trace  of  him,  and,  after  a  short 
absence,  came  running  to  the  tent  shouting,  "  Get  the 
guns  ready !  There  are  six  wild  Tibetans  after  Will !" 
Excitement    reigned    supreme    and    every    preparation 


46  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

was  made  to  show  the  enemy  our  ability  and  readiness 
to  defend  ourselves  and  our  goods  if  need  be.  Mr. 
Ferguson  rode  well,  outstripping  his  pursuers  all  but 
one,  a  big  Tibetan  armed  with  a  spear,  who  followed 
closely  on  his  track.  We  knew  that  Mr.  Ferguson  was 
quite  capable  of  looking  after  himself,  as  he  carried  a 
revolver,  and  usually  the  sight  of  foreign  arms  of  any 
kind  has  a  salutary  effect  on  these  wild  nomads.  Soon 
not  only  Mr.  Ferguson  but  the  six  Tibetans  had  reached 
our  tent,  and  the  latter  were  preparing  to  help  them- 
selves to  our  possessions  when  Ishinima  remonstrated, 
informing  them  that  we  had  foreign  guns,  whereupon 
they  threw  their  rude  matchlocks  and  clumsy  spears  to 
the  ground,  sat  down  beside  them,  filled  their  pipes 
and  smoked  and  chatted  in  a  very  friendly  manner. 
Presently  another  group  of  Tibetans  came  galloping 
toward  our  tent.  They  were  ten  in  number,  and  as 
they  drew  near  we  espied  our  lost  black  mule  among 
their  animals.  These  Tibetans  were  well  dressed  in 
garments  of  various  and  gorgeous  colors.  We  did  not 
know  their  intentions,  but  they  kept  assuring  us  in 
the  name  of  Buddha  that  they  were  good  men,  and  if 
any  proof  were  wanting  they  triumphantly  added  that 
one  of  their  company  was  a  lama.  At  the  same  time 
the  predatory  instinct  began  to  manifest  itself;  the 
newcomers  insisted  on  having  first  one  thing  and  then 
another  of  our  belongings,  and  were  only  restrained 
from  looting  the  entire  camp  when  Mr.  Rijnhart 
threatened  to  shoot  if  they  laid  hands  on  a  thing. 
After  some  further  altercation  we  gave  them  some 
cash  for  catching  our  mule — Ishinima  gave  them  a 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  47 

mani,  or  rosary,  of  great  value,  and  the  entire  band 
rode  off.  The  question  now  was:  should  we  continue 
our  journey  to  the  Koko-nor  or  return  home?  I  was 
ever  so  grateful  when  Ishinima  declared  that  the 
Tibetans  who  had  just  left  us  were  Tangut  robbers, 
and  that  they  would  most  assuredly  return  presently 
with  reinforcements  to  attack  us,  for  that  announce- 
ment led  to  an  immediate  decision  to  turn  back.  Al- 
though later  we  made  the  Koko-nor  journey  with  no 
fear,  but  with  greater  experience  and  knowledge  of 
the  grass  country  and  its  inhabitants,  for  the  mo- 
ment the  vision  of  the  Blue  Lake  grew  dim,  and  load- 
ing our  mules  we  leaped  into  our  saddles,  and  were 
soon  galloping  toward  Tankar,  with  sweet  dreams  of 
the  safety  and  shelter  that  awaited  us  in  our  little  home 
at  Lusar. 

Deviating  a  little  from  the  road  by  which  we  had 
come,  we  arrived  at  Chang-fang-tai,  a  Tibetan  village 
nestling  on  the  edge  of  a  small  stream.  The  country 
hereabout  was  quite  fertile,  although  in  an  unculti- 
vated state.  Eoaming  along  the  bank  of  the  stream,  we 
gathered  specimens  of  ferns,  grasses  and  wild  flowers. 
The  inhabitants  seemed  to  be  peaceably  disposed,  com- 
ing into  our  tent  and  taking  tea  with  us.  Here,  by  the 
way,  I  tried  my  first  dish  of  tsamha,  the  staple  article 
of  diet  throughout  Tibet,  taking  the  place  of  bread  in 
other  countries,  and  which  I  had  always  imagined  must 
be  very  delicious  from  the  zest  with  which  Ishinima 
invariably  devoured  it.  Tsamha  is  a  kind  of  meal 
made  from  parched  barley,  which,  after  being  thor- 
oughly kneaded  with  the  lingers  in  a  mixture  of  tea 


48  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  butter,  is  taken  out  in  lumps  and  eaten  from  the 
hand.  Though  Mr.  Eijnhart  added  sugar  to  make  it 
more  palatable,  I  could  not  eat  it. 

In  the  midst  of  our  enjoyment  at  this  village  we 
heard  the  first  alarming  tidings  of  the  terrible  rebellion 
which  shortly  broke  out  in  full  fury  among  the  Mo- 
hammedans of  Western  Kansu.  Faint  rumblings  of 
the  storm  had  already  been  heard,  but  we  had  not  con- 
sidered the  outlook  serious.  During  the  day  we  had 
noticed  clouds  of  smoke  rising  in  the  distance,  and 
these,  a  Tibetan  courier  informed  us,  marked  the  scene 
of  the  beginning  of  Mohammedan  depredations.  A 
column  of  the  rebel  fanatics  had  swept  across  the  North 
country  and  fallen  upon  a  Chinese  village,  killing  all 
the  inhabitants,  setting  fire  to  the  buildings,  and  leav- 
ing nothing  but  ashes,  smoke  and  charred  corpses. 
Hastily  we  pulled  up  our  tent,  and,  though  the  night 
was  dark,  we  rode  off  toward  Kumbum,  with  great 
difficulty  following  the  trail  which  wound  in  and  out 
among  the  hills,  while  every  dark  object  became  to  our 
excited  imagination  a  crouching  Mohammedan  ready 
to  dart  his  merciless  spear.  A  sigh  of  relief  escaped 
us  as  we  arrived  at  the  gate  of  Lusar,  yet  we  knew 
more  serious  news  awaited  us  as,  contrary  to  custom, 
the  gate  was  closed  and  carefully  guarded.  The  old 
gate-keeper,  whom  we  knew  well,  opened  to  let  us  in, 
and  informed  us  of  the  danger  that  like  a  dark  cloud 
had  fallen  on  the  village  since  we  left.  At  any  moment 
the  Mohammedans  were  expected  to  rush  in  from  some 
neighboring  ambush.  But  amid  the  gloomy  forebodings 
that  for  the  moment  filled  our  minds,  there  was  a 


AMONG  THE  LAMAS  49 

tremor  of  joy  at  the  thought  of  our  good  fortune  in 
returning  to  Lusar  when  we  did.  The  Divine  Prov- 
idence had  indeed  overshadowed  us  and  directed  our 
movements.  Had  we  gone  on  to  the  Koko-nor  and  at- 
tempted to  return  later,  we  should  have  found  our  way 
intercepted  by  the  Mohammedan  stronghold  which  a 
few  days  afterwards  commanded  the  roads  from  Tankar 
to  Kumbum. 


CHAPTER    III 

A  MOHAMMEDAN   REBELLION 

Moslem  Sects — Beginnings  of  the  Struggle — Our  Ac- 
quaintance with  the  Abbot — Refuge  in  the  Lamasery 
— The  Doctrine  of  Reincarnation. 

Among  China's  four  hundred  millions  the  Mo- 
hammedan element,  though  comparatively  small,  must 
be  counted  as  a  significant  factor.  Like  a  fomenting 
leaven,  a  hotbed  of  domestic  turmoil  within  themselves, 
and  ever  and  anon  working  to  the  surface  of  the  na- 
tional life,  the  followers  of  the  Prophet  have  proved  a 
constant  source  of  trouble  to  the  Chinese  authorities, 
especially  in  the  provinces  of  Shensi,  Yunnan  and 
Kansu,  where  they  have  planted  their  most  extensive 
colonies.  According  to  Dr.  Martin,  there  are  about  ten 
millions  of  them  throughout  the  empire,  although 
other  authorities  place  the  number  much  higher.  They 
are  known  by  the  general  appellation  of  Siao-chiao, 
that  is,  adherents  of  the  "small  religion,"  as  opposed 
to  the  Chinese,  who,  with  their  complex  cult  of  ancestor 
worship,  idolatry  and  incense  burning,  are  of  the 
Ta-chiao,  or  "great  religion,"  the  comparative  magni- 
tude of  the  two  religions  being  estimated  of  course  by 
the  relative  number  of  their  adherents.     The  Moham- 

50 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  REBELLION  51 

medans  are  further  distinguished  from  the  Chinese  by 
their  abstaining  from  opium,  wine,  tobacco,  pork  and 
other  meats  except  when  killed  by  a  Mohammedan 
slaughterer  who  has  been  specially  authorized  by  the 
ahon.  Travelers,  for  this  reason,  may  always  be  cer- 
tain of  getting  good,  clean  meat  from  Mohammedan 
butchers,  whereas  the  Chinese  do  not  scruple  to  cut 
up  and  offer  for  sale  an  animal  that  has  died  of  dis- 
ease. Besides  being  generally  clean,  the  Mohammedans 
are  industrious,  making  a  success  of  whatever  calling 
they  embrace,  be  it  that  of  a  merchant,  muleteer,  carter, 
cook,  innkeeper,  or  worker  in  copper,  silver  or  iron. 
Their  restaurants  along  the  great  highways  enjoy  the 
liberal  patronage  of  all  classes,  while  on  the  other 
hand  no  Mohammedan  will  partake  of  the  "  cere- 
monially unclean''  dishes  of  the  ordinary  innkeeper 
of  the  Ta-chiao  persuasion. 

The  Mohammedans  of  the  province  of  Kansu,  num- 
bering about  one  million  and  a  half,  constitute  one- 
fourth  of  its  population.  In  the  principal  cities,  such 
as  Lanchso,  the  capital,  and  Sining,  they  monopolize 
the  suburbs,  and  whole  villages  and  towns  of  them  are 
to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  the  province,  even  as 
far  west  as  the  Tibetan  border.  Besides  being  known 
under  the  usual  designation  of  Siao-chiao,  to  distin- 
guish them  religiously  from  the  Chinese,  they  are  also 
called  by  the  latter  Huei-huei,  while  the  Tibetans  and 
Mongolians  speak  of  them  as  K'a-che.  Though  now 
having  lost  to  a  considerable  extent  their  racial  char- 
acteristics through  intermarriage  with  the  Chinese, 
they  are  still  recognized  as  the  descendants  of  the  great 


62  WITH  THE  TIBETAT^S 

migrations  which  came  from  Turkestan,  Kashmir,  and 
Samarkand  nearly  five  centuries  ago.  They  are  di- 
vided into  two  sects,  called  the  "  white-capped "  and 
"  black-capped,"  the  latter  being  identical  with  the 
Salars,  who  are  much  more  fanatical  and  exclusive 
than  the  other  sect.  In  the  Sining  district  the  two  di- 
visions are  known  as  the  Lao-chiao,  or  "  old  religion," 
and  the  Sin-chiao,  or  "  new  religion,"  the  latter  being, 
as  far  as  we  could  ascertain,  the  same  sect  as  the  Salars, 
or  "  black-capped "  Mohammedans.  They  have  not 
merged  nearly  so  agreeably  with  the  Chinese  as  the 
former,  for,  while  they  are  usually  ready  to  rebel,  the 
Lao-chiao,  as  a  rule,  remain  neutral,  or  even  co- 
operate with  the  Chinese. 

The  Salars  who  boast  of  their  Samarkandi  origin 
are  settled  around  Hocheo,  Hsuen-hua-ting,  Mincheo 
and  Taocheo,  the  first  mentioned  town  of  thirty  thou- 
sand inhabitants  being  their  stronghold,  where  the 
Chinese  have  to  keep  a  large  body  of  soldiers,  as  nearly 
every  year  for  the  most  trivial  reasons  there  is  trouble. 
The  Salars  speak  their  own  language,  which  is  under- 
stood by  travelers  from  Kashgar,  and  when  we  visited 
their  country  in  1897,  Rahim,  our  Tibetan  boy,  a 
native  of  Ladak,  was  delighted  that  he  could  converse 
in  their  own  tongue,  which  he  had  learned  on  his 
journeys  into  Turkestan.  The  men  have  a  purely  for- 
eign look,  good  figures,  oval  faces,  aquiline  noses,  and 
wear  the  Chinese  queue,  while  the  women  do  not  bind 
their  feet,  though  the  Mohammedans  around  us  were 
as  much  in  love  with  small  feet  as  were  the  pure 
Chinese.     They  are  all  supposed  to  be  conversant  with 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  EEBELLION  53 

Arabic,  but,  as  a  fact,  have  not  usually  much  knowledge 
of  it,  except  the  ahons,  some  of  the  latter  being  Tur- 
kestani.  Occasionally  some  great  mufti  from  Mecca 
or  other  important  Moslem  center  visits  the  faith- 
ful in  Kansu,  exhorting  them  to  greater  zeal; 
while  the  many  mosques  that  tower  above  the  Chinese 
dwellings,  the  dogged  fidelity  with  which  the  devotees 
perform  their  religious  services,  and  the  death-em- 
bracing fanaticism  with  which  in  times  past  they  have 
fought  for  their  faith,  all  attest  the  vigorous  hold  which 
Mohammedanism  has  gained  in  the  land  of  Confucius. 

The  religious  dissimilarities  between  the  two  sects 
are  trivial,  the  lines  of  cleavage  being  quite  as  insig- 
nificant as  some  that  divide  Christendom.  The  chief 
bone  of  contention  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  hour  at  which  the  fast  may  be  broken  during  the 
Eamadan,  and  as  to  the  propriety  of  incense  burning. 
The  cause  of  the  dispute  which  culminated  in  one  of 
the  most  sanguinary  and  disastrous  wars  that  ever  took 
place  in  Western  China  was  the  question  as  to  whether 
or  not  a  Mohammedan  might  wear  a  beard  before  the 
age  of  forty! 

It  need  not  be  wondered  at  that  terror  filled  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  Lusar  and  Kumbum,  and  of  all 
the  surrounding  villages,  when  the  news  spread  that  the 
Mohammedan  sword  was  again  unsheathed;  for  fresh 
in  their  memories  were  the  terrible  atrocities  perpe- 
trated during  the  former  uprising,  which  was  one  long 
intermittent  period  of  bloodshed  and  pillage  lasting 
from  1861  to  1874,  both  parties,  however,  assenting 
to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  each  year  during  seedtime 


54  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  harvest.  The  government  troops  sent  to  subdue 
the  rebels  had  been,  on  account  of  their  inadequate 
numbers,  hewn  down,  harrassed  and  beaten  year  after 
year,  and  only  succeeded  finally  in  quelling  the  out- 
break because  of  a  dissension  among  the  Mohammedans 
themselves  as  to  whether  the  Koran  sanctioned  the  use 
of  tobacco.  Our  own  little  Lusar  had  in  those  troublous 
times  been  twice  destroyed,  while  before  the  rebellion 
Kumbum,  the  great  monastery,  had  been  the  residence 
of  7,000  lamas,  hundreds  of  whom  dyed  their  temple 
thresholds  with  their  blood,  falling  in  defense  of  their 
treasures  and  their  homes,  repulsing  the  rebels  barely 
in  time  to  save  their  treasure-house,  and  to  keep  unholy 
hands  from  ravishing  their  gold-tiled  temples.  When- 
ever the  lamas  look  at  the  bullet-pierced  silver  bowl 
which  is  still  in  service  on  one  of  the  altars,  they  re- 
member that  Kumbum's  palmiest  days  ended  in  that 
great  struggle,  for  never  since  has  it  contained  more 
than  four  thousand  lamas. 

Although  the  Chinese  had  finally  subdued  the  rebel- 
lion, they  had  not  quelled  the  fanaticism  that  gave  it 
rise.  They  forbade  the  Mohammedans  to  reside  within 
the  towns  and  cities,  but  this  only  led  to  their  gathering 
in  thousands  outside  the  walls  or  in  separate  settle- 
ments, where  they  brooded  over  their  lack  of  freedom, 
and  cherished  a  hatred  towards  the  Chinese,  fanned  by 
the  memory  of  the  treachery  by  which  during  the  war 
the  latter  had  beguiled  them  into  many  a  bloody  snare ; 
and  throughout  all  the  intervening  years,  up  to  the  time 
of  the  fresh  outbreak  in  1895,  the  ahons  had  done  their 
part  in  keeping  the  fire  of  hatred  and  dissatisfaction 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  REBELLION  55 

burning  in  their  hearts.  The  vague  rumors  of  trouble 
at  a  distance  that  had  reached  us  before  our  departure 
for  the  Koko-nor  had  caused  little  alarm  in  our  dis- 
trict, but  on  our  return  the  reports  were  distinct  and 
dire  enough.  The  little  fire  so  recently  kindled  was 
already  assuming  uncontrollable  proportions.  A  dis- 
sension had  occurred  in  the  8in-chiao  on  account  of  the 
beard  question  already  referred  to,  and  swords  were 
drawn;  the  Chinese,  who,  while  inert  enough  in  most 
emergencies,  seem  to  be  ready  to  interfere  in  Moham- 
medan disputes,  stepped  in  to  settle  this  one,  and  the 
progress  of  the  campaign  until  it  reached  the  immedi- 
ate vicinity  of  Kumbum  had  been,  we  learned,  as  fol- 
lows. 

The  quarrel  between  the  two  sects  having  broken 
out  eighty  English  miles  from  Sining,  and  the  district 
inhabited  by  the  Salars  being  governed  from  that  city, 
a  Major  Uang  had  been  sent  with  two  hundred  sol- 
diers to  make  peace,  which  apparently  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  doing;  but  suspicions  of  his  failure  were 
aroused  when,  on  the  13th  of  March,  the  Tao-tai 
of  Sining  was  summoned  by  the  Governor-general 
of  Kansu  to  Lancheo  and  despatched  with  more 
troops  to  Hsuen-hua-ting,  the  seat  of  the  trouble.  The 
latter  official  did  a  most  imprudent  thing  in  seizing  and 
putting  to  death  a  prominent  chief  and  three  or  four 
others,  for  to  avenge  this  outrage  the  Salars,  largely 
forgetting  their  own  differences,  rose  en  masse  against 
the  Chinese,  imprisoning  the  general  and  several 
other  officers  who  had  been  sent  from  Hocheo  to 
aid   him.     Reports   that   the    Salars   were    advancing 


56  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  that  other  Mohammedans  were  joining  them, 
threw  the  Chinese  of  the  Sining  district  into  the 
wildest  exieitement,  and  soldiers  were  sent  into  the 
villages  not  as  yet  affected  by  the  rebellion,  to  in- 
quire into  rumors  and  exhort  the  Chinese  and  Mo- 
hammedans to  live  together  in  peace.  By  the  end  of 
March  the  truth  about  Major  Uang's  defeat  was 
learned.  A  "  white-capped "  Mohammedan,  a  sup- 
posed ally  of  the  Chinese,  but  really  in  league  with 
the  Salars,  offered  to  guide  the  Major  to  a  position 
from  which  he  might  crush  the  rebels  at  a  single  blow. 
The  Major  and  his  men  followed  the  guide  over  the 
treacherous  river  and  along  its  southern  bank,  until, 
arriving  at  the  juncture  of  two  valleys,  they  camped 
for  the  night,  the  Yellow  River  on  the  north  of  them, 
and  a  ridge  of  high  rocky  hills  on  the  south.  Here, 
when  wholly  unprepared,  they  were  surprised  by  the 
Salars  into  whose  hands  they  had  been  secretly  be- 
trayed by  the  would-be  guide,  seventy-four  of  their 
number  being  killed,  while  the  others,  having  given  up 
their  rifles  on  the  promise  of  mercy  and  freedom,  were 
immediately  afterwards  shot  by  their  enemies. 

The  news  of  this  disaster  having  reached  the  Gov- 
ernor-General, he  issued  a  proclamation  ordering  the 
extermination  of  the  Salar  sect,  root  and  branch.  Two 
days  later  a  fresh  proclamation  was  affixed  to  the  city 
gates,  couched  in  milder  terms,  saying  that  a  distinc- 
tion was  to  be  made  between  good  and  bad  Salars,  that 
only  the  latter  were  to  be  killed.  But  no  reverse  tide 
of  second  thought  could  dam  back  the  mighty  cataclysm 
of  bloodthirsty   revenge   which   had   broken    out   over 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  REBELLION  57 

the  land.  This  first  proclamation  had  done  the 
work;  already  the  blacksmiths  were  busy  night  and 
day  sharpening  old  swords  and  making  new  ones,  and 
people  from  the  villages  were  flocking  into  the  cities 
with  their  families,  furniture  and  grain.  Farming 
was  suspended,  and  a  general  panic  prevailed  as  it 
became  known  that  the  Salars  had  risen  up  in  the  ful- 
ness of  their  strength,  all  joining  swords  from  various 
motives — fear,  zeal,  revenge,  and  the  hope  of  gain 
through  success  and  plunder  being  the  chief  ones.  De- 
tachments of  imperial  soldiers  came  up  from  Lancheo 
and  Liangcheo,  but  the  Mohammedans  had  congre- 
gated in  such  overwhelming  hordes  that  the  Chinese 
could  not  begin  to  cope  with  them. 

About  the  end  of  April  the  imperial  troops  had  suc- 
ceeded in  taking  three  Salar  villages,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  operations  of  the  rebels  became  more  exten- 
sive. The  Chinese  government,  now  realizing  the  mag- 
nitude of  their  undertaking,  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  imperial  troops  Brigadier-General  Teng 
of  Sining,  a  man  of  rare  decision  and  military  reputa- 
tion, who,  departing  for  the  seat  of  trouble,  defeated 
the  rebels  near  the  city  of  Hsuen-hua-ting,  a  victory 
with  which  further  uprisings  in  the  vicinity  of  Hocheo 
were  simultaneous;  nor  was  his  victory  accomplished 
without  extreme  difficulty  and  much  bloodshed.  The 
enemy  having  been  apprised  of  the  Brigadier-General's 
start  from  Sining,  had  come  to  meet  him,  and  but  for 
the  timely  help  of  the  Tibetans,  his  army  would  have 
been  annihilated.  It  became  evident  that  the  rebellion 
was  no  longer  confined  to  the  "  black-capped "  sect. 


58  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  when  the  news  spread  that  Hocheo,  the  Mecca  of 
Kansu  Moslemism,  the  site  of  Moslem  colleges  and 
mosques,  had  become  a  center  of  rebel  activity,  it  was 
felt  that  the  worst  had  only  begun.  General  Teng 
with  the  resources  at  his  command  adopted  the  most 
vigorous  measures.  In  the  beginning  of  July  he  in- 
flicted a  severe  defeat  on  the  enemy,  killing  700  of 
them,  but  its  glory  was  dimmed  by  the  ominous  rumor 
that  10,000  Mohammedans  in  the  suburbs  of  Sining 
were  about  to  join  the  rebels. 

As  the  reports  that  reached  Lusar  and  Kumbum  be- 
came more  and  more  alarming,  the  people  were  thor- 
oughly aroused,  lamas  and  laymen  joining  heart  and 
hand  in  offensive  and  defensive  measures  to  be  em- 
ployed against  the  rebels,  whom  they  now  no  longer 
spoke  of  as  Huei-huei,  or  Siao-chiao,  but  by  the  more 
appropriate  title,  as  they  thought,  tseh.  . 

Activity  in  the  collection  of  old  iron  increased,  the 
furnaces  glowed  day  and  night  with  an  intenser  heat, 
and  louder  rang  the  anvils  under  the  blows  of  an 
army  of  smiths  in  response  to  the  general  clamor  for 
Bwords,  spear-points  and  guns.  On  all  the  main  roads 
leading  to  the  village  tiao-lo  were  built,  two-storied 
mud-brick  towers,  a  gateway  underneath,  and  a  room 
above  through  the  wall  of  which  were  loop-holes  for 
guns,  while  a  small  rampart  branched  off  on  either  side. 
The  Sin-cJiiao  Mohammedans  living  in  Lusar  gradu- 
ally and  quietly  sold  their  property,  or  taking  it 
along  with  their  families,  left  for  Topa,  the  rebel 
stronghold  on  the  Hsi-ho,  where  there  were  soon  40,- 
000  fighting  men.     We  little  suspected  that  even  Mo- 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  EEBELLION  69 

hammedans  who  had  become  our  friends,  particularly 
one  old  man  who  lived  almost  next  door  to  us,  were 
so  soon  to  take  up  arms  against  their  fellow-citizens, 
ourselves  included. 

The  lamas  provided  themselves  with  arms  of  every 
kind,  were  organized  into  an  army  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Shertoch  Fuyeh,  one  of  the  "  living  buddhas  " 
of  Kumbum,  and  met  on  the  hills  for  drill,  besides 
being  as  busy  as  bees  at  the  construction  of  strong 
brick  towers  for  the  protection  of  their  homes  and 
temples.  Ishinima,  though  an  arrant  coward,  pre- 
pared a  spear  for  himself,  and  our  lessons  in  Tibetan 
became  very  irregular  and  almost  useless,  for  our  pro- 
fessor had  utterly  lost  his  equilibrium.  The  inhab- 
itants of  Lusar  carried  all  their  valuables  over  fo 
Kumbum  and  placed  them  in  the  hands  of  the  lamas, 
intending  to  flee  to  the  lamasery  should  the  rebels  in 
strength  attack  the  village,  knowing  that  the  lamas 
would  die  fighting  for  their  treasures,  and  so  the  lives 
of  the  sojourners  there  would  be  comparatively  safe. 
Eefugees  from  isolated  villages  swarmed  to  Kumbum 
for  safety,  and  soon,  as  a  result  of  the  overcrowding, 
diphtheria  and  smallpox  were  raging,  while  food, 
fodder,  and  everything  had  risen  to  such  exhtDrbitant 
prices  that  beggars  were  added  in  immense  crowds  to 
the  already  existing  number,  occupying  every  cave  and 
stable,  in  fact,  every  available  corner  they  could  find. 
Many  of  our  friends  in  Lusar  advised  us  to  leave  for 
home,  or  at  least  go  to  Sining,  which  had  a  good  wall 
and  an  army  to  defend  it ;  but  we  felt  that  we  had  not 
unprovidentially  arrived  in  Kumbum  at  that  especial 


60  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

time,  and  in  order  that  we  might  not  thwart  the  plans 
of  Him  whose  work  we  were  doing,  we  remained  among 
the  people,  and  made  preparations  to  save  our  goods  in 
the  event  of  an  attack,  hy  putting  them  in  a  cave  off 
our  storeroom. 

Barely  had  we  decided  to  share  the  fears  and  fortunes 
of  our  Chinese  and  Tibetan  friends,  by  facing  with 
them  the  dreadful  possibilities  of  a  long  and  bloody 
siege,  when  an  event  of  no  small  importance  occurred, 
one,  in  fact,  which  to  a  great  extent  changed  the  cur- 
rent of  our  lives  and  affected  the  whole  course  of  our 
future  relations  with  the  people.  To  our  amazement 
we  received  from  the  Jcanpo  an  invitation  to  take  up 
our  abode  in  the  lamasery  during  the  rebellion,  an 
offer  which,  needless  to  say,  we  eagerly  accepted,  not 
only  because  of  the  safety  it  offered  us,  but  also  because 
of  the  prestige  it  would  give  us  in  the  eyes  of  those 
whom  we  were  seeking  to  help.  This  apparently  sud- 
den kindness  on  the  part  of  the  abbot  was  dependent 
upon  an  amusing  incident  during  ]\Ir.  Eijnhart's  visit 
to  Kumbum  in  1892.  One  day  he  was  sent  for  by 
one  of  the  "  living  buddhas "  of  Kumbum,  and,  ex- 
pecting to  have  a  pleasant  and  profitable  conversation 
about  spiritual  matters,  he  went  immediately  to  the 
buddha's  apartment,  where  he  learned  with  some  dis- 
appointment that  he  had  been  summoned  not  from  any 
religious  motive,  but  to  be  consulted  about  a  music-box 
which  the  buddha  had  bought  as  a  curiosity  when  on 
a  visit  to  Pekin.  The  music-box  was,  to  express  liter- 
ally what  the  lama  had  said,  "  sick,''  and  had  ceased 
to  give  forth  music;  and  the  lama  had  concluded  that 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  EEBELLION  61 

since  it  had  been  made  by  foreigners  it  could  surely 
be  cured  by  a  foreigner.  Mr.  Eijnhart  carefully  ex- 
amined the  instrument,  and  finding  it  only  needed 
lubricating,  gave  it  a  liberal  treatment  of  castor-oil, 
the  only  kind  available,  whereupon  its  powers  re- 
turned, and  the  wonderful  box  was,  as  the  lama  ex- 
pressed it,  "  cured.^^  He  had  therefore  conceived  great 
confidence  in  the  skill  of  the  foreigner,  for  if  he  could 
cure  a  sick  music-box  with  one  dose  of  medicine,  how 
much  more  could  he  do  for  a  sick  man !  The  result  of 
an  apparently  insignificant  act  of  kindness  cannot  be 
estimated.  The  music-box  incident,  though  forgotten 
by  Mr.  Eijnhart,  had  evidently  left  an  impression  on 
the  lama,  who  had  in  the  meantime  risen  to  the  dignity 
of  the  abbotship,  for  he  it  was  who  now  again  sum- 
moned the  foreign  doctor  with  his  magic  oil  to  come 
and  treat  the  treasurer  of  the  lamasery,  who  had  fallen 
ill,  although  he  did  not  know  at  the  time  that  Mr. 
Eijnhart  was  the  same  foreigner  who  had  "  cured  his 
sick  instrument." 

Following  a  guide,  we  climbed  up  steep,  stony 
paths  until  we  reached  the  most  imposing  of  the 
buildings,  the  Jcanpo's  residence,  in  a  part  of  which 
the  treasurer  resided.  Ishinima  had  often  spoken 
of  the  Jcanpo,  or  fa-tai,  the  great  man  who  pre- 
sided over  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  four  thousand 
Kumbum  lamas,  assuring  us  that  he  could  only  be 
seen  when,  clad  in  his  saffron  robes,  crowned  with  his 
glittering  mitre,  and  followed  by  a  long  retinue  of 
attendants,  he  descended  from  his  lofty  and  sacred 
abode  to  preside  over  some  important  religious  func- 


62  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

tion.  Ishinima's  surprise  may  well  be  imagiiled  when 
we  told  him  we  were  going  to  the  Tcanpo's  residence  to 
visit  such  an  illustrious  patient  as  Hsam-tso,  the  treas- 
urer. Indignantly  he  repudiated  the  possibility  of  such 
a  thing,  for  the  entrance  of  foreigners  into  the  sacred 
residence  of  the  great  incarnation  of  Buddha  was  un- 
heard of.  Yet  to  the  equally  great  surprise  of  Ishinima 
and  ourselves,  we  not  only  visited  the  treasurer,  care- 
fully diagnosed  his  case,  and  gave  him  treatment,  but 
by  special  invitation  were  ushered  into  the  audience 
chamber  of  the  kanpo  himself.  Climbing  a  steep  stair- 
case, we  arrived  in  the  courtyard  immediately  con- 
fronting his  apartments,  where  we  saw  a  youthful 
lama  with  flying  red  garments,  bare  feet,  and  counte- 
nance wreathed  in  smiles,  rush  across  the  courtyard 
and  enter  a  room  as  if  to  apprise  his  master  of  our 
approach,  and  when  we  reached  the  door  he  was  there 
with  characteristic  oriental  obsequiousness  to  usher  us 
in.  Another  moment  and  we  were  standing  in  the 
presence  of  the  greatest  Buddhist  dignitary  of  all 
northeastern  Tibet,  the  man  who  was  looked  up  to  as 
spiritual  guide  and  teacher  not  only  by  the  lamas  who 
sat  under  his  immediate  tutelage,  but  by  thousands  of 
laymen  outside,  to  whom  his  personality  was  known. 
Sublime  in  the  consciousness  of  his  own  greatness,  he 
did  not  descend  from  his  throne  on  perceiving  us;  in 
fact,  his  stolid  countenance  betrayed  no  sign  of  pleas- 
ure or  surprise,  for  why,  indeed,  should  the  calm  and 
monotonous  flow  of  his  feelings  be  disconcerted  by  the 
arrival  of  a  couple  of  foreign  teachers  more  than  by 
the  worshippers  of  high  rank  whom,   from   far  and 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  REBELLION  63 

near,  he  was  accustomed  to  receive  daily  ?  He  asked  us 
to  be  seated  on  some  beautiful  rugs,  while  his  lama 
servant  brought  us  tea  in  china  basins,  which  were 
placed  before  us  on  little  tables  ten  inches  high,  painted 
in  bright  colors.  During  the  conversation  the  kanpo 
explained  that  a  past  experience  with  a  foreigner  had 
given  him  the  desire  to  meet  another,  and  great  was  his 
pleasure  when  he  found  out  that  Mr.  Eijnhart  was  the 
identical  foreigner  who  had  "  doctored "  liis  music- 
box  three  years  previous. 

This  brief  visit  was  preliminary  to  many  others  that 
followed  in  quick  succession,  resulting  in  an  intimate 
acquaintance,  mutually  agreeable,  which  soon  ripened 
into  a  firm  friendship.  The  kanpo  was  particularly 
interested  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Eijnhart  had  a  wife, 
and  as  more  ominous  reports  of  the  progress  of  the 
rebellion  reached  the  lamasery,  he  evinced  a  sincere 
anxiety  about  our  welfare.  He  had  indeed  a  greater 
surprise  in  store  for  us  than  the  privilege  of  paying 
him  a  visit,  for  he  told  us  very  cordially  that  his  own 
home  in  the  lamasery  was  at  our  disposal,  and  bade 
us  move  our  goods  at  once  to  his  apartments  and  take 
up  our  abode  there  until  the  rebellion  was  over.  "  If 
the  Mohammedans  attack  Lusar,"  he  said  gravely, 
"  the  people  will  take  shelter  in  the  lamasery  and  leave 
you  to  be  killed."  We  could  but  feel  that  the  Tcanpo's 
offer  was  providential,  so,  accepting  it  as  heartily  as 
it  was  given,  we  removed  those  of  our  valuables  which 
were  not  hidden  in  the  cave,  over  to  his  house,  where 
we  found  he  had  prepared  for  our  occupancy  two  large 
rooms  and  a  kitchen. 


64  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Our  life  in  the  lamasery  was  a  busy  one.  Hundreds 
of  diphtheria  cases  were  dealt  with,  and  many  wounded 
people  were  brought  to  us  from  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts. In  connection  with  medical  work  in  the 
lamasery,  a  very  interesting  and  pathetic  incident  oc- 
curred, that  served  to  give  us  a  clear  idea  of  one  of 
the  fundamental  beliefs  of  Buddhism,  viz :  re-incarna- 
tion. A  young  lama  came  requesting  us  to  visit  a  lad 
who  was  very  ill — a  little  fuyeh,  or  buddha,  about  ten 
years  old.  Following  a  guide  into  the  capacious  court- 
yard of  one  of  Kumbum's  best  residences,  past  many 
rooms  decorated  in  gay  colors,  with  windows  of  lattice- 
work covered  with  bright  paper  and  colored  glass,  we 
came  to  the  door  of  a  suite  of  apartments,  where  stood 
an  old  lama  with  white  beard  and  hair,  down  whose 
cheeks  flowed  copious  tears,  as  wringing  his  hands  he 
besought  us  to  do  our  best  for  the  boy  and  not  let  him 
die;  as  if  he  died,  he,  the  lama,  would  have  seen  his 
elder  brother  die  a  second  time.  Though  the  little 
fuyeh  was  that  old  lama's  nephew  by  birth,  he  was 
looked  upon  as  his  elder  brother;  the  latter  had  died 
ten  years  previously,  and  the  soul,  it  was  believed,  had 
returned  into  the  body  of  the  little  boy,  to  spend  an- 
other period  on  its  progress  toward  Nirvana,  the  state 
of  blessedness.  Hence  it  was  that  the  man  who  now 
confronted  us  was  in  such  great  sorrow  fearing  that  he 
should  a  second  time  witness  his  elder  brother's  death. 
We  promised  all  the  help  we  could  give,  and  were 
ushered  into  a  small,  beautifully  adorned  room,  where 
we  saw  reclining  on  the  h'ang  a  sick  child,  a  glance 
at  whom  told  us  that  we  were  in  the  presence  of  a 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  REBELLION  65 

victim  of  a  virulent  type  of  diphtheria.  Upon  care- 
ful examination  we  felt  that  there  was  scant  hope  of 
his  recovery,  and  informed  the  old  man  that  the  only 
chance  for  the  patient  lay  in  our  staying  with  him. 
Whereupon  the  old  lama  told  us  to  do  what  we  thought 
hest,  adding  that  he  would  procure  for  us  anything  we 
desired,  no  matter  what  the  cost  would  be,  for,  he 
added,  "that  boy  has  great  wealth — thousands  of 
horses,  cattle  and  sheep  and  valuable  property  are  his." 
We  prepared  the  necessaries  for  the  treatment  of  our 
little  patient  and  settled  down  beside  the  k'ang  to 
watch  him. 

Daylight  faded  into  twilight,  and  the  secular  work 
of  the  lamasery  was  done.  As  the  tumultuous  hubbub 
of  voices  died  away  and  even  the  sound  of  the  water- 
carriers'  footsteps  had  ceased,  the  lamasery  was  per- 
vaded by  a  strange  and  melancholy  quiet,  indescribably 
peculiar,  but  somewhat  akin  to  that  atmosphere  of 
silent  awe  that  fills  the  galleries  and  crypts  of  some 
old  mediaeval  cathedral,  subduing  the  voice  and  even 
the  thoughts  of  the  traveler,  as  he  stands  with  uncov- 
ered head  before  the  tombs  of  the  illustrious  and  saintly 
dead.  And  as  that  silence  is  sometimes  broken  by  the 
strains  of  the  choristers'  song  sounding  soft  and  low 
from  their  practice-room,  or  by  snatches  of  muffled 
harmony  floating  down  from  the  organ-loft,  so  on  that 
night  was  the  stillness  broken  by  the  musical  voices 
of  the  lamas  chanting  their  prayers  in  the  temples, 
or  on  the  housetops  where  they  lighted  fires  of  juniper 
leaves,  the  smoke  of  which  curled  up  and  spent  its 
fragrance  far  and  wide  until  the  very  air  seemed  re- 


66  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

dolent  with  the  sense  of  worship.  In  some  respects 
the  aesthetic  side  of  Tibetan  Buddhism  is  irresistible, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  has  thrown  a  strong 
fascination  over  the  credulous  Tibetans.  It  is,  how- 
ever, like  the  Pharisaism  of  old,  only  a  whited  se- 
pulchre, having  a  beautiful  exterior,  but  full  of  rot- 
tenness and  dead  men's  bones  within.  How  forcibly 
the  wail  of  the  white-haired  old  lama,  with  his  rayless 
belief  in  the  doctrine  of  reincarnation  brought  home  to 
our  hearts  that  night  the  imsatisfying  emptiness,  the 
bitter  darkness  of  a  system  which  offers  the  human 
spirit  no  brighter  prospect  than  to  be  broken  again  and 
again  on  the  "  Wheel  of  Existence,"  struggling  in  its 
own  strength  for  countless  ages,  with  the  forces  of 
evil,  with  no  better  promise  than  annihilation  at  the 
end.  Those  who  get  their  conceptions  of  existing 
Buddhism  from  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  "  Light  of  Asia  " 
would  be  sadly  disillusioned  could  they  see  it  as  it  is 
really  believed  and  practiced  by  the  people  of  Tibet. 

Night-time  had  settled  down  upon  us  in  our  places 
beside  the  boy,  all  the  lamas,  even  the  old  man,  having 
retired.  We  sat  reading  or  conversing  in  low  whispers, 
our  hearts  awed  by  the  strangeness  of  our  surround- 
ings, the  dim  light  of  the  primitive  lamp  casting  weird 
shadows  on  some  objects  about  the  room,  now  in  this 
comer  upon  a  spear  and  two  guns  ready  for  use,  sug- 
gestive of  an}i;hing  but  peace,  then  upon  a  yellow 
satin  hat  with  wide  brim  and  peaked  crown,  and  a 
yellow  jacket  belonging  to  the  boy.  He  was  not  to  use 
them  again,  for  from  the  bed  came  stertorous  breath- 
ing, which  continually  reminded  us  that   death  was 


A  MOHAMMEDAN  EEBELLION  67 

claiming  its  victim.  Suddenly  through  the  impressive 
stillness  rang  a  shout,  then  another,  some  barking  of 
dogs,  then  a  few  shots,  and  almost  in  a  flash  from  the 
housetops  near  and  far  rang  cries  of  "  Sha  sa!  Sha  sa!" 
(Eat  meat!  Eat  meat!),  the  vrar-cry  of  the  lamas.  A 
lama  rushed  through  the  room  where  we  sat,  calling 
out,  "  Where's  my  spear  ?  Give  me  my  spear !  The 
rebels  have  come!" — and,  having  obtained  it,  joined 
his  comrades  on  the  roof.  Mr.  Eijnhart  said  he  would 
go  for  a  moment  to  the  house-top  to  see  if  there  were 
really  danger,  and  being  alone  with  the  child,  I  prayed 
that  God  would  preserve  us  from  falling  alive  into  the 
hands  of  the  Mohammedans.  The  noise  soon  ceased, 
and,  to  our  joy,  we  found  that  it  had  been  a  false  alarm 
caught  up  by  the  sentries  around  Kumbum,  from  those 
about  Lusar,  who  had  seen  a  large  body  of  rebels  pass- 
ing in  the  distance  to  pillage  another  village,  and  had 
given  the  note  of  alarm,  thinking  that  we  were  to  be 
attacked.  This  was  only  one  of  the  many  times  that 
alarms  were  sounded  during  both  night  and  day  for 
the  following  months. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  young  fuyeh  died,  and 
his  old  uncle,  to  whom  the  little  life  was  so  precious, 
shortly  afterwards  committed  suicide  by  taking  a  large 
dose  of  opium ;  for  he  said  he  could  not  bear  to  live  in 
prospect  of  the  known  possibility  of  seeing  his  elder 
brother  die  a  third  time! 

Om  mani  padme  hum,  the  Sunrise  comes! 

The  Dewdrop  slips  into  the  shininp-  Seal 
So  sings  the  poet,  but  for  that  old  lama  there  was 
neither  sunrise  nor  shining  sea,  but,  according  to  his 
own  confession,  grief,  despair  and  darkness. 


CHAPTER   IV 

WITH    THE    WOUNDED 

Refugees  at  Sining — Our  Isolation  at  Kumbum — The 
Siege  of  Shen-Ch'un— To  the  Battlefield— A  Ride 
for  Life — Rout  of  the  Mohammedans. 

Preparations  for  meeting  the  rebels  went  on  apace. 
Sentries  were  placed  on  the  lamasery  towers  and  on 
the  almost  contiguous  hills,  ready  to  give  the  alarm 
when  danger  threatened.  Crowds  of  lamas  with  drawn 
swords  surged  through  the  streets,  or  assembled  on  the 
house-tops  to  discuss  the  latest  reports  from  the  field. 
Our  co-worker,  Mr.  Ferguson,  having  important  busi- 
ness at  Shanghai,  decided  to  leave  for  the  coast.  It 
was  a  hazardous  undertaking,  yet  it  seemed  inevitable. 
As  the  road  was  still  open  we  accompanied  him  to 
Sining.  Anticipating  perilous  times  during  the  months 
to  come,  we  thought  we  might  not  live  to  see  him 
again.  Moreover  we  desired,  while  still  possible,  to 
visit  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ridley  before  being  cut  off  alto- 
gether from  all  intercourse  with  European  friends  or 
from  the  sight  of  a  white  face,  and  again  more  par- 
ticularly, our  presence  in  Sining  was  necessary  in  order 
to  make  final  arrangements  for  Mr.  Ferguson's  jour- 
ney.     As    we    went    along    there    were    no    signs    of 

68 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  69 

trouble;  in  many  of  the  villages  the  people  did 
not  seem  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 
for  they  were  engaged  in  their  ordinary  avoca- 
tions; and,  except  a  body  of  red-jacketed  Chinese 
troops  who  crossed  our  path  on  their  way  to  attack  a 
rebel  encampment  in  a  town  two  days'  journey  to  the 
north,  we  saw  nothing  to  suggest  the  terror  which  had 
spread  in  other  parts.  Upon  reaching  Sining,  however, 
we  found  the  rebellion  had  been  raging  in  earnest  in 
the  northern  valley.  Hundreds  of  homeless  and 
wounded  people  seeking  shelter  were  flocking  into  the 
already  overcrowded  city,  where  the  temples  were 
turned  into  temporary  hospitals,  to  which  the  Chinese 
missionaries,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eidley  and  Mr.  Hall,  daily 
repaired,  ministering  with  soothing  ointments  to  the 
poor  creatures  who  had  been  burned  in  the  flames  that 
had  turned  their  homes  to  ashes,  and  bandaging  the 
ghastly  wounds  made  by  Mohammedan  bullets  and 
swords.  Some  of  the  wounded  had  crawled  on  their 
hands  and  knees  for  distances  as  great  as  seventeen 
miles,  and  arrived  more  dead  than  alive.  As  the 
refugees  increased  in  number  diphtheria  and  small- 
pox were  rife,  and  Mrs.  Ridley  moved  among  the  pa- 
tients stricken  with  these  dread  diseases  hoping  against 
the  danger  of  infection  to  which  herself  and  her 
precious  little  Dora,  only  a  few  months  old,  were  sub- 
jected, yet  not  able  to  do  otherwise  than  help  to  allevi- 
ate the  awful  suffering  about  her.  Travel  to  Lancheo 
being  still  possible,  though  not  very  safe,  Mr.  Ferguson 
adhered  to  his  purpose  to  press  on  to  the  coast,  so  we 
said  good-bye  to  him  and  reluctantly  turned  back  to 


70  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Kumbum,  where  we  were  soon  completely  isolated. 
Ten  miles  to  the  northwest  of  us  the  Mohammedans 
had  massed  in  thousands  at  Topa,  from  which  strong- 
hold marauding  bands  of  them  scoured  the  country 
between  their  own  position  and  Kumbum,  rendering 
it  unsafe  for  anyone  to  venture  more  than  two  miles 
north  of  the  lamasery;  while  five  miles  on  the  opposite 
side,  the  village  of  Shen-ch'un,  the  Mohammedan  por- 
tion of  whose  inhabitants  Joined  the  rebels,  became  a 
veritable  seat  of  war.  The  combined  rebel  forces  of 
Shen-ch'un  and  langmaoko,  another  village  over  the 
hills,  blocked  all  the  roads  in  their  district  and 
massacred  the  Chinese  by  hundreds.  Thus  impris- 
oned for  nearly  six  months,  we  received  no  reliable  in- 
formation as  to  what  was  happening  at  Sining  and  in 
other  districts,  but  events  around  Kumbum  were  stir- 
ring enough  and  quite  sufficient  to  absorb  our  atten- 
tion, until  the  road  to  Sining  should  be  again  open 
and  we  could  learn  the  intervening  history  of  the 
rebels'  movements. 

Mina  Fuyeh,  for  that  was  the  Tcanpo's  name,  gave 
us  every  day  new  evidences  of  his  friendship.  Side  by 
side  with  the  problems  of  defending  the  lamasery  and 
superintending  the  great  priesthood,  he  seemed  to  have 
placed  that  of  our  personal  safety.  He  had  devised  a 
plan  whereby  we  might  escape  should  the  Moham- 
medans in  superior  force  attack  the  lamasery,  and 
should  it  become  evident  that  the  lamas  could  not  re- 
pulse them.  Under  cover  of  darkness  he  proposed  that 
we  should  flee  with  him  to  Kuei-teh,  where  he  had  a 
house  and  wher^  he  would  give  us  shelter,  food  and 
clothing  until  we  could  hear  from  the  homeland.  While 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  71 

the  road  to  Kuei-teh  was  yet  passable,  and  the  reports 
kept  coming  in  that  the  rebels  were  burning  one  village 
after  another,  the  Tcanpo  sent  trusty  men  thither  with 
boxes  containing  his  precious  treasures.  Eeturning  to 
Kumbum  the  men  were  fallen  upon  by  robbers,  who 
made  off  with  the  hanpo's  valuable  mules,  eleven  in 
number,  and  severely  wounded  two  of  the  men.  So 
unsafe  had  the  road  become  that  even  the  kanpo's 
sacred  possessions  were  not  free  from  brigandage. 

The  discussion  of  plans  for  our  safety  was  appar- 
ently not  premature,  for  every  day  came  news  of  fresh 
victories  for  the  Mohammedans,  whose  arms  seemed 
to  prevail  on  every  hand.  Every  day  refugees  arrived 
at  the  lamasery;  sick  and  wounded  were  brought  in 
from  all  directions  to  receive  our  treatment,  the  news 
having  spread  that  the  foreign  doctors,  under  the  very 
roof  and  patronage  of  the  abbot,  were  performing 
miracles  of  healing  and  were  prepared  to  treat  all  who 
came  to  them. 

Among  the  most  interesting  of  our  patients  was  an 
old  man,  Chinese  by  birth,  but  possessing  the  courage 
and  daring  of  a  Tibetan,  who  had  been  appointed  a 
leader  over  fifty  of  the  local  troops,  and  had  set  out 
one  morning  to  aid  some  Chinese  in  an  adjoining 
village  to  repulse  an  attack  by  rebels.  Treacherously 
one  of  his  men,  a  carpenter,  had  stabbed  him  in  the 
elbow,  some  said  because  the  former  was  in  the  pay 
of  the  Mohammedans,  who  were  anxious  to  be  rid  of 
such  an  able  opponent  as  Cheo  Lao-yeh,  the  old  man, 
was  proving  himself  to  be.  They  remembered  his 
efficient    service    in    the    former    rebellion,    in    which. 


72  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

though  wounded  seven  times,  he  had  dealt  them  many  a 
crushing  defeat.  The  treacherous  thrust  had  made  an 
ugly  wound  in  his  arm,  but  the  family  being  rich,  and 
consequently  able  to  give  him  every  attention,  while 
I  spared  no  pains  to  aid  in  his  recovery,  each  day 
marked  improvement.  His  wife  was  a  Mongol.  His 
only  child  was  an  attractive  young  married  woman  of 
twenty  wearing  the  Mongol  costume,  which  was  very 
becoming  to  her,  while  her  pretty  little  baby  com- 
pleted the  family  group  and  added  much  gladness  to 
the  lonely  hours  the  old  man  spent  on  the  k'ang.  Many 
were  the  presents  and  incalculable  kindnesses  bestowed 
upon  us  by  this  man,  and  when  later  he  died  while  we 
were  away  from  home,  he  asked  his  daughter  to  give 
each  of  us  a  rosary  he  had  worn,  gifts  which  we  prized 
very  much  for  we  knew  they  were  tokens  of  sincere 
gratitude  and  love. 

Shen-ch'un  was  the  scene  of  much  strife,  at  first 
only  between  the  Mohammedans  and  Chinese  in- 
trenched in  their  respective  forts,  and  consisting  of  bat- 
tles between  small  parties  who  would  sally  out  to  glean 
in  the  fields,  or  gather  fuel,  the  successes  and  failures 
being  about  evenly  divided  between  the  opposing  forces. 
By  degrees  the  strength  of  the  Chinese  portion  of  the 
village  had  been  reduced,  the  last  detachment  of  young 
men  having  been  completely  cut  to  pieces  during  a 
sortie,  so  that  the  beleagured  and  helpless  inhabitants, 
consisting  now  only  of  old  men,  women  and  children, 
appealed  for  succor  to  the  lamas'  army,  and  the  local 
Chinese  troops.  Contrary  to  the  abbot's  wishes,  the 
lama  soldiers,  having  taken  all  their  arms  to  a  temple 
to  be  blessed,  sallied  out  one  morning  to  attack  the 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  73 

rebels.  Their  priestly  robes  thrown  aside  for  the  mo- 
ment, they  wore  the  ordinary  layman's  red  and  yellow 
garments  with  multifold  red  turbans  of  raw  silk  wound 
around  their  heads.  Armed  with  guns,  swords,  and 
spears,  equally  divided  between  infantry  and  cavalry, 
the  latter  being  mounted  on  splendid  ponies,  the  dark 
eyes  of  all  flashing  with  rage  and  the  thirst  for  re- 
venge, they  presented  such  a  warlike  appearance  as 
facilitated  our  realization  of  the  gallant  defense  our 
lama  army  would  offer  in  case  the  rebels  attacked  the 
lamasery  fortress.  Presently  the  Chinese  soldiers 
from  Lusar  having  formed  in  battle  array,  some  wear- 
ing bright  scarlet  military  jackets,  but  the  majority 
clad  in  the  blue  of  everyday  life,  marched  out  to  join 
the  lamas.  A  few  were  mounted  and  carried  bright 
colored  flags,  while  the  remainder  on  foot  were  fur- 
nished with  swords,  and  a  few  guns.  The  departure  of 
the  two  detachments  was  among  the  most  affecting 
and  picturesque  sights  I  have  ever  witnessed.  The  en- 
tire population  of  Kumbum  and  Lusar  was  massed 
on  the  flat  roofs  of  the  lamasery  buildings  to  see  them 
off,  while  above  the  din  that  rose  from  the  multitude 
could  be  heard  the  click  of  prayer-wheels,  ardent  mut- 
terings  of  the  mystic  phrase,  om  mani  padme  hum,  and 
low  incantations  of  the  remaining  lamas,  all  of  which 
augured  success  to  their  brothers-in-arms.  The  more 
daring  mounted  their  horses  and  accompanied  them  to 
the  summit  of  a  hill  which  overlooked  the  scene  of  the 
impending  battle,  ourselves  being  among  the  number. 
The  morning  sun,  now  high  in  the  heavens,  gilded  the 
crests  of  the  distant  hills  and  likewise  threw  his  brill- 


74  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

iant  sheen  upon  the  turbans,  red,  blue  and  yellow  robes 
of  the  dusky  lamas  and  bronzed-faced  Chinamen,  the 
many-colored  banners  of  the  mounted  ensigns,  the 
broad-bladed  spears  and  swords,  and  the  glittering 
caparisons  of  the  fiery  steeds,  while  every  remaining 
dew  drop  amid  the  green  sward  over  which  they  trod 
added  its  ray  of  splendor  to  the  scene.  Having  accom- 
panied the  troops  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  we  watched 
their  winding  course  through  the  valley  and  across  the 
little  river  until  they  came  into  proximity  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan fort.  On  the  trail  at  a  little  distance  be- 
hind the  army  stood  the  sung  Icuan,  with  sword  in  hand, 
ready  to  kill  the  first  Chinaman  who  should  run  away 
from  the  fight.  It  appears  that  the  Chinese  had  in 
former  crises  left  the  lamas  in  the  lurch,  hence  the 
effective  measure  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  such 
cowardice. 

The  storming  of  the  fort  was  soon  in  full  swing,  the 
lamas  doing  the  greater  share  of  the  fighting.  In  an 
attempt  to  set  fire  to  the  gate  they  were  met  by  such 
showers  of  stones  hurled  down  upon  them  from  the 
wall  that  they  were  obliged  to  retreat,  not  without  loss. 
But  such  fighting  ability  did  they  betray  that  the  rebels, 
fearing  another  onslaught,  summoned  the  aid  of  five 
hundred  expert  Salar  marksmen,  and  reinforced  by  the 
latter  made  a  fresh  attack  on  the  Chinese  fort  opposite 
them.  While  they  had  been  engaged  with  the  Kumbum 
troops,  the  Chinese  women  and  what  few  old  men  were 
left,  had  placed  great  piles  of  stones  on  the  walls,  with 
which  they  expected  to  beat  back  the  Mohammedans, 
or  at  least  keep  them  from  entering  the  gate;  but  the 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  75 

latter,  during  the  night,  had  quietly  dug  through  the 
mud  wall,  several  feet  in  thickness,  and  early  next 
morning  effected  an  entrance.  The  Chinese  women 
fought  like  tigresses,  and  though  many  of  them  died 
like  heroines  in  defense  of  their  homes,  they  were  of 
course  overpowered.  Almost  the  whole  remaining 
population  was  put  to  the  sword,  except  only  a  few, 
who  made  their  escape  to  Kumbum.  On  the  day  of 
their  arrival  there  was  almost  as  much  excitement  as 
on  the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  troops.  Again  the 
roofs  of  the  lamasery  were  crowded,  as  well  as  the 
streets,  to  see,  as  they  passed  through  the  gates,  the 
sole  survivors  of  the  long  siege,  a  few  old  men,  some 
women  and  children,  each  carrying  some  sad  memento 
of  the  sanguinary  struggle,  a  bag  of  food,  a  basin  or 
a  brass  pot,  all  that  now  remained  to  them  in  the  world. 
What  tales  of  woe  and  suffering  were  written  in  their 
sad  faces !  Fathers  and  brothers  slain  and  homes  de- 
stroyed !  Only  a  sense  of  fear  seemed  to  be  left  in 
their  nature  after  so  many  long  nights  of  dreadful 
vigil  in  the  fort,  their  hearts  filled  with  horror  by  the 
wanton  cruelty  and  flagrant  inhumanity  with  which 
the  Mohammedans  had  treated  even  defenseless  women 
and  children.  There  were  few  dry  eyes  in  Kumbum 
that  morning.  The  sentiment  of  revenge  was  high,  and 
what  wonder?  as  tales  kept  pouring  into  the  lamasery 
of  women  and  children  burned  alive,  of  little  shepherd 
boys  pierced  through  and  through  while  beside  some 
stream  they  watched  their  fathers^  flocks,  of  little  in- 
fants carried  about  on  the  points  of  spears,  while  ever 
and    anon    some    wound-covered    victim,    perhaps    a 


76  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Chinese  woman  with  her  small  crippled  feet,  would 
crawl  into  the  lamasery  weak  from  the  loss  of  blood, 
and  death  staring  from  the  eyes.  The  Buddhist 
lamasery  of  Kumbum,  like  the  Chinese  temple  of  the 
God  of  Literature  in  Sining,  had  become  a  hospital, 
and  our  hands  were  full.  Among  the  patients  whose 
sufferings  most  touched  our  hearts  was  a  child  brought 
to  us  with  sixteen  spear  thrusts  in  his  little  body.  Ten- 
derly we  cared  for  him,  and  to  our  great  joy  he  got  well. 
Soon  after  the  stirring  episode  of  Shen-ch'un  a  body 
of  Chinese  and  Tibetan  soldiers,  armed  with  foreign 
guns,  under  Commander  Li,  an  old  opium  smoker, 
came  to  Kiai-ya,  a  well  fortified  Chinese  village  one 
mile  from  the  cluster  of  forts  that  had  in  part  been 
wrenched  from  those  brave  Chinese  women,  and  we  all 
felt  that  probably  the  day  of  retribution  for  the  Mo- 
hammedans was  at  hand.  In  the  morning  in  good 
order  the  former  attacked  one  side  of  the  rebel  posi- 
tion, while  the  lama  army  simultaneously  assaulted  the 
other;  bodies  of  Mohammedan  horsemen  were  seen  to 
be  parrying  the  attacks  and  endeavoring  to  mislead  the 
soldiers,  but  with  great  force  the  two  opposing  bodies 
met  and  the  Tibetans  had  at  dark  almost  won  the  day, 
when,  for  some  mysterious  reason,  a  retreat  was  or- 
dered by  Commander  Li,  and  the  whole  army  returned. 
In  the  morning  it  was  expected,  of  course,  that  another 
attack  would  be  made,  but  it  was  learned  that  so  far 
as  Li  Lao-yeh  was  concerned,  the  Mohammedans  might 
remain  in  peace;  and  it  was  so  loudly  whispered  that 
he  had  "  eaten  Mohammedan  silver,"  or  in  other  words, 
been  bribed,  that  he  lost  his  prestige,  and  if  he  did  not 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  77 

lose  his  head,  it  was  only  because  the  peh-sing,  or  com- 
mon people,  could  not  get  their  hands  on  him  to  carry 
out  the  sentence  which  all  had  passed  on  him  in  their 
minds. 

Though  numbers  of  the  rebels  had  fallen  during  the 
day's  fighting,  the  casualties  among  the  Chinese  and 
Tibetans  were  also  serious.  Early  in  the  day  a  band 
of  twenty  soldiers  came  to  the  lamasery  requesting  Mr. 
Rijnhart  and  myself  to  go  to  the  battlefield  and  look 
after  their  wounded  companions,  offering  themselves 
as  our  escort  to  the  scene  of  carnage.  The  prospect  of 
riding  to  within  a  mile  of  the  rebel  position  was  not  in- 
viting, but  when  we  thought  of  the  sufferings  of  our 
lama  soldiers,  and  our  ability  to  help  those  who  had 
risked  their  lives  in  defense  of  helpless  women  and 
children,  and  who  might  ere  long  be  called  upon  to  de- 
fend us  at  the  lamasery,  and  remembering  that  we 
were  servants  of  Him  who  "went  about  healing  all 
that  were  oppressed,"  we  hesitated  not.  Having  pre- 
pared our  surgical  and  medical  supplies  we  rode  off 
with  our  escort,  each  one  of  whom  was  armed  to  the 
teeth.  As  we  traveled  on  among  the  hills,  some  acted 
as  scouts  to  see  that  the  road  was  clear,  while  the 
others  surrounding  us  sought  to  make  us  feel  safe  in 
their  keeping,  at  the  same  time  expressing  their  grati- 
tude to  us  for  having  come. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  village  we  found  it  teeming 
with  soldiers,  some  of  whom  ushered  us  at  once  into 
the  quarters  of  the  wounded.  We  worked  hard  all 
day  bandaging  cuts  and  extracting  bullets,  attending 
to  the  most  serious  cases  first,  but  at  sunset  we  had  not 


78  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

come  to  the  end  of  the  list.  Feeling  it  was  unwise 
to  pass  the  night  so  near  the  Mohammedan  position, 
especially  as  every  available  corner  in  the  village  was 
already  occupied  by  soldiers,  we  decided  to  return  to 
Kumbum,  intending  to  finish  treating  the  wounded 
men  on  the  following  day.  Silently,  accompanied  by 
our  escort,  we  traveled  homeward  under  the  light  of  the 
harvest  moon,  our  scouts  peering  through  every  valley 
and  defile,  lest  haply  we  might  be  fallen  upon  by  lurk- 
ing Mohammedan  horsemen.  On  our  arrival  at  Kum- 
bum we  found  the  lamasery  gates  closed,  and  as  the 
eye  of  the  sentry  caught  sight  of  such  a  large  body  of 
soldiers,  he  became  suspicious  and  refused  to  admit 
us,  fearing  some  kind  of  treachery  or  strategem.  The 
lamas  gathered  on  the  roof,  Mr.  Rijnhart  stepped  out 
where  he  could  be  heard  and  shouted  to  them  that  he  was 
the  foreign  doctor  returning  from  a  visit  to  the  wound- 
ed, and  that  the  soldiers  were  his  escort.  I  also  spoke 
up  corroborating  Mr.  Rijnhart's  words,  whereupon  the 
gate-keeper  cautiously  opened  the  ponderous  gate  and 
let  us  in. 

Shortly  after  sunrise  next  day  we  started  again  for 
Kiai-ya.  The  morning  air  was  crisp  and  exhilarating, 
and  we  rode  with  a  feeling  of  greater  repose  than  on  the 
evening  previous.  As  yet  very  few  people  were  astir, 
here  a  lama  carrying  a  water-bucket  on  his  broad  back, 
there  an  early  traveler  setting  out  for  the  Lusar  market, 
or  a  farmer  with  a  donkey-load  of  straw,  or  fen-Jcuai- 
tsi,  argols  pressed  into  brick  form,  to  be  sold  to  the 
lamas.  When  we  reached  Kiai-ya  we  found  our  wounded 
men  doing  well,  and  by  noon  we  had  attended  to  the 


WITH  THE   WOUNDED  79 

cases  left  over  from  the  preceding  day.  Our  reputation 
having  spread  through  the  village  we  were  called  upon 
to  visit  a  young  girl  of  sixteen  who  had  been  accidentally 
shot  below  the  left  knee  two  months  before.  The  wound 
was  a  ghastly  sight,  the  leg  being  shattered  for  sev- 
eral inches.  Native  doctors  could  do  nothing ;  the  limb 
had  not  even  been  bandaged.  Only  after  such  a  sight 
does  one  appreciate  the  blessings  which  the  sciences  of 
medicine  and  surgery  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  sick  and 
suffering  in  Christian  lands.  We  informed  the  girl's 
friends  that  only  the  amputation  of  the  diseased  mem- 
ber could  effect  a  cure,  a  proposal  which  they  resolutely 
refused  to  entertain,  in  accordance  with  the  Confucian 
teaching  that  a  person  should  quit  this  life  with  an 
entire  body.  And  so  we  had  to  leave  her,  though  the 
whole  house  reeked  with  the  stench  of  the  wound,  nor 
were  we  surprised  to  hear  shortly  afterwards  that  she 
was  dead. 

Our  medical  work  being  done,  we  were  sitting  in  the 
yamen  being  entertained  at  luncheon  by  the  Chinese 
commander,  when  suddenly  the  call  to  arms  was  beaten 
and  the  alarm  given  that  the  Mohammedans  in  large 
forces  were  issuing  from  their  stronghold.  While  the 
soldiers  seized  their  weapons  and  rushed  into  battle 
array,  we  demanded  our  escort  and  set  out  for  home. 
The  first  part  of  the  way  led  along  a  hollow  road  worn 
deep  with  the  travel  of  ages,  with  sides  so  steep  and 
high,  that  everything  was  concealed  from  view,  and 
when  we  had  emerged  from  it,  on  an  incline  overlook- 
ing the  valley,  we  saw  galloping  toward  us  a  body  of 
rebel  horsemen,  who  had  seen  us  leave  Kiai-ya   and 


80  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

were  endeavoring  to  head  us  off.  The  Tibetans  spurr- 
ing on  our  horses  we  rode  for  our  lives,  gaining  in 
speed  as  we  galloped  down  the  hillside,  at  times  the 
feet  of  our  animals  scarcely  seeming  to  touch  the 
ground.  There  was  not  only  the  danger  of  our  being 
overtaken  by  our  pursuers.  Who  knew  but  at  any  turn 
we  might  be  met  by  another  band  ?  Perhaps  already 
they  were  hurrying  to  meet  us  along  another  road  that 
joined  the  one  we  were  traveling  on,  not  far  from  the 
lamasery. 

We  were  not  the  only  ones  who  had  taken  to  flight. 
The  feeling  of  alarm  at  the  rebels'  sally  having  spread 
among  all  the  villages,  and  even  among  travelers  who 
had  heard  the  news  as  they  journeyed  along,  many 
were  fleeing  for  their  lives  on  the  same  road  as  our- 
selves. Not  far  off,  galloping  over  the  hills  and 
valleys  we  saw  a  Koko-nor  Tibetan,  preferring,  accord- 
ing to  habit,  the  rough  ground  to  the  smooth  road,  pre- 
senting a  doubly  awkward  appearance  in  his  bulky 
sheepskin  gown  inflated  by  the  wind,  and  his  unwieldy 
matchlock  shifting  about  with  every  plunge  of  his  pony, 
which  with  shouts  and  various  gesticulations,  he  urged 
on  toward  the  lamasery.  Safely  passing  the  junction 
of  the  roads  where  we  had  feared  to  meet  a  second  band 
of  rebels,  and  having  far  outrun  our  pursuers  whom  the 
hills  now  hid  from  view,  we  dismissed  our  escort, 
thinking  the  moment  opportune  for  them  to  turn  about 
unobserved  and  go  back  to  the  village  by  another  route. 
Then  scarcely  slackening  our  speed  we  rode  on  alone, 
overtaking  many  men  and  women  who  had  been  out 
in  the  fields  gathering  argols  and  grain,  now  dazed  with 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  81 

fear  and  running  helter-skelter  toward  the  haven  for 
which  we  also  were  aiming.  On  reaching  the  lama- 
sery, we  found  the  roofs  crowded  with  our  lama  friends, 
who  had  been  apprised  by  the  sentries  of  the  rebels' 
mancEuvre,  and  had  been  anxious  as  to  our  fate.  How 
welcome  the  sense  of  safety  as  we  passed  behind  the 
huge  gate  that  shut  our  enemies  outside.  Had  our 
ponies  stumbled  or  any  other  accident  impeded  our 
progress;  had  there  been  any  difficulty  at  the  gate  as 
on  the  preceding  night,  any  delay  of  five  minutes 
would  have  made  it  forever  impossible  for  us  to  tell 
the  tale.  Jambula,  an  old  Mongol  lama  living  in  the 
room  near  ours,  who  had  become  very  much  attached 
to  us,  almost  wept  when  taking  my  husband  by  the 
hands,  he  told  us  how  concerned  he  had  been  for  our 
safety  and  how  glad  he  was  to  see  us  back  alive. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  when  it  was  reported  that 
General  Ho  in  command  of  ten  thousand  soldiers  well 
armed  with  foreign  guns  had  pressed  his  way  past  the 
rebels  who  had  been  massed  in  great  numbers  in  the 
Siao-hsia  or  "  Narrow  Gorge  ",  where  they  had  hoped 
to  cut  off  the  advance  of  the  imperial  troops.  General 
Ho's  army  was  so  formidable  that  the  rebels,  on  being 
advised  to  disband  rather  than  be  cut  to  pieces,  had 
acted  the  part  of  discretion  and  left  for  home,  thus 
leaving  free  passage  to  General  Ho,  who  soon  arrived  at 
Sining  and  joined  hands  with  Brigadier-General  Teng, 
the  chen-tai,  or  chief  military  official  of  the  city.  The 
chen-tai  deserves  the  credit  of  keeping  the  rebels  in 
check  until  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements;  and  the 
excellent  service  rendered  by  the  latter  with  their  heavy 


82  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

cannon,  well-manned,  and  firing  balls  strong  enough 
to  shatter  the  Mohammedan  defence-tower,  temporarily 
freed  the  city  from  danger  and  made  it  possible  for  the 
united  imperial  troops  to  hasten  to  the  relief  of  Shen- 
ch'un.  The  announcement  that  the  imperial  army  was 
coming  to  storm  Shen-ch'un  caused  thrilling  excitement 
and  deep-felt  joy  throughout  the  villages  near  Kumbum 
and  on  the  road  to  Sining.  The  day  that  the  army 
was  expected,  nearly  all  the  Lusar  people  went  either  to 
a  hill  commanding  a  good  view  of  the  scene  of  battle, 
or  towards  the  forts  in  order  to  plunder  as  soon  as  an 
entry  into  Mohammedan  quarters  had  been  made  by 
the  conquering  hero,  Brigadier-General  Teng,  who  was 
to  those  Chinese  what  Lord  Roberts  is  to  the  British 
army  and  Admiral  Dewey  to  the  American,  the  idol  of 
the  people.  A  squadron  of  cavalry  came  into  sight 
along  the  ISTan  Chuan  or  Southern  Valley.  We  could 
see  their  numerous  bright  pennons  waving  in  the 
breeze,  the  great  cannon  drawn  by  mules,  and  the  chen- 
tai  conspicuous  by  his  brilliant  uniform  and  white 
steed,  leading  the  procession.  Then  followed  the  infan- 
try, all  in  much  better  marching  order  than  any  Chinese 
soldiers  we  had  previously  seen.  On  they  came  amid 
the  cheers  of  the  people  on  the  hills  and  the  quaking 
hearts  of  the  Mohammedans,  who  were  no  doubt  watch- 
ing from  their  loop-holes.  Soon  they  had  halted  near 
the  rebel  forts  where  they  were  welcomed  by  the  Chinese 
and  lama  leaders  of  the  local  troops  that  had  gone 
forth  to  meet  them.  The  cannon  was  brought  into 
good  position  for  aiming  at  the  weakest  fort,  the  sol- 
diers were  placed  in  battle  order,  while  the  langmaoko 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  83 

Mohammedans  dashed  courageously  down  the  hills  to 
help  their  comrades  even  against  such  odds.  A  puff 
of  smoke  from  the  cannon,  a  crash,  and  down  went 
part  of  the  tower,  attended  by  a  dense  cloud  of  dust 
and  deafening  cheers  from  our  neighbors  on  the  hills, 
while  a  look  through  our  telescope  told  us  that  one 
end  of  the  far  from  impregnable  tower  was  gone.  A 
few  more  well-aimed  shots  reduced  the  wall,  and  Gen- 
eral Ho,  commanding  a  regiment,  rushed  upon  one  of 
the  forts,  the  general  himself  being  shot  in  the  thigh 
as  a  result.  Mohammedans  fled  in  groups  up  the  hill, 
hoping  to  escape  across  to  another  valley,  but  they 
only  fell  into  the  hands  of  soldiers  who  had  concealed 
themselves  in  a  hollow  road  to  cut  off  any  retreat.  Many 
a  mounted  fugitive  we  saw  fall  from  his  horse,  as  sud- 
denly a  crouching  Chinaman  leaped  up  and  transfixed 
him  with  his  spear.  Those  who  got  out  of  the  reach  of 
sword  and  spear  were  picked  off  by  the  unerring  bullet. 
The  entire  hillside  had  become  a  battle-field,  the 
autumnal  grass  being  literally  stained  with  blood.  It 
was  a  terrible  sight  for  us;  but  to  the  Chinese  and 
Tibetans  there  was  in  it  the  sweetness  of  revenge.  Un- 
speakable, indeed,  was  the  retribution  that  now  fell 
upon  those  who,  when  they  had  the  upper  hand,  hesi- 
tated at  no  cruelty  and  stooped  to  every  atrocity  known 
to  the  darkened  mind  of  man.  Several  forts  were  taken 
before  dusk  and  as  the  Chinese  object  to  fighting  in 
the  dark,  they  withdrew,  but  General  Teng  placed  his 
forces  so  that  the  besieged  might  not  escape  during  the 
night.  As  we  saw  several  wounded  being  carried  in  from 
the  field,  we  betook  ourselves  to  their  quarters*  to  render 


84  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

them  whatever  service  we  could.  We  were  shown  into 
a  little  room,  a  few  feet  long,  with  only  a  window  a 
foot  square,  from  which  a  soldier,  by  vigorously  using 
a  whip,  kept  the  heads  of  the  curious  ones  from  shut- 
ting out  the  light,  while  a  number  of  orderlies  amid 
general  shouting,  kept  us  supplied  with  warm  and  cold 
water,  wood  for  splints  and  other  necessities.  When 
we  succeeded  in  extracting  a  bullet  from  a  soldier's  limb 
he  would  ask  to  see  it,  and  when  it  was  given  to  him 
he  would  take  it  between  his  teeth  and  gnash  and  grind 
it  in  revenge  for  the  pain  and  suffering  it  had  caused 
him.  Always  we  found  that  in  the  minds  of  the 
wounded,  the  main  hope  of  recovery  as  well  as  of  the 
cessation  of  pain,  lay  in  the  extraction  of  the  bullet. 
Darkness  overtook  us  before  we  had  treated  all  our 
wounded  that  night,  and  as  we  wended  our  way  through 
the  narrow  streets  of  the  small  village  of  twenty  homes 
that  quartered  two  thousand  troops,  we  saw  soldiers 
sleeping  spear  in  hand,  lying  in  corners  of  courtyards 
and  along  the  streets  all  worn  out  with  the  day's  fight- 
ing, yet  ready  on  the  slightest  alarm  to  follow  their 
trusted  leader  to  new  dangers  and  new  victories. 

Just  as  we  were  ready  to  retire  a  loud  knocking  at 
our  front  gate  announced  the  arrival  of  visitors,  who 
proved  to  be  some  soldiers  coming  to  invite  Mr.  Eijn- 
hart  to  go  with  them  to  see  a  corporal  who  had  been  shot 
in  the  mouth.  Though  conscious  of  the  risk,  he  accom- 
panied them  to  the  village  where  the  chen-tai  was  quar- 
tered and  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  his  patient, 
who  was  swearing  in  a  loud  voice  and  abusing  everyone 
that  came  within  his  hearing.    The  bullet  was  imbedded 


WITH  THE  WOUNDED  85 

between  the  gum  and  the  cheek  and  had  to  be  probed 
for.  During  the  operation  the  corporal  swore  and  is- 
sued rough  commands  to  his  men  whenever  the  instru- 
ment allowed  him  an  opportunity  to  use  his  tongue. 
Mr.  Eijnhart  maintained  that  there  was  a  mingling  of 
the  pathetic  and  ridiculous  in  the  rage  which  his  pa- 
tient manifested  over  being  obliged  to  carry  in  his 
mouth  even  for  a  short  time  a  rebel's  bullet. 

The  chen-tai,  though  such  an  efficient  general,  had 
not  made  his  investment  of  the  besieged  forts  complete, 
for  during  the  night  stealthily  the  Mohammedans  with- 
drew with  their  families  and  valuables.  Making  their 
way  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  they  effected 
their  escape  to  Topa,  and  the  following  morning  the 
soldiers  and  a  swarm  of  feh  sing  who  intended  to  loot 
and  plunder,  entered  the  deserted  houses,  finding  bread 
half-baked  in  the  fire,  and  other  tokens  of  a  hasty  flight. 
The  Lusar  people  returned  after  they  had  secured  their 
booty,  presenting  an  amusing  scene  with  their  prizes, 
which  were  for  the  most  part  worthless  baggage,  old 
tables,  cupboards,  broken  pots,  worn  out  bags  with  per- 
haps a  little  grain.  We  realized  how  bitter  was  the  feel- 
ing against  the  rebels  when  we  heard  many  express 
such  delight  at  the  great  massacre  of  Mohammedans  of 
the  day  before,  for  eight  hundred  had  been  killed. 


CHAPTER  V 

MISSIONS  AND  MASSACEES 

Bible  School  at  Lusar — Mohammedan  Kevolt  at  Sin- 
ing — Terrible  Slaughter  by  Imperial  Soldiers — The 
Fall  of  Topa — Peace  at  Last. 

In  the  midst  of  these  stirring  times  when  thoughts 
of  murder  and  revenge  were  uppermost  in  the  people's 
minds,  we  endeavored  to  carry  on  the  work  of  preach- 
ing and  teaching  as  well  as  of  healing.  The  abbot's  in- 
vitation to  reside  in  the  lamasery  we  could  but  inter- 
pret as  a  divine  call  to  a  larger  field  of  usefulness,  and 
the  influence  which  his  patronage  gave  us  in  the  eyes 
of  the  people  was  but  another  name  for  opportunity — 
a  sacred  trust  for  which  we  felt  we  should  be  held  re- 
sponsible. Priests  and  laymen,  women  and  children, 
rallied  round  us,  consulting  us  in  their  difficulties  and 
giving  us  every  evidence  of  their  trust  in  us.  One  of 
the  most  encouraging  features  of  our  missionary  work 
was  the  Bible  School,  which  was  begun  soon  after  our 
removal  to  the  lamasery,  and  held  every  Wednesday  and 
Sunday  afternoon  in  our  house  at  Lusar.  The  children, 
who  had  become  attached  to  us,  even  following  us  in 
the  street,  were  easily  gathered  in  and  became  at  once 
interested  in  the  colored  Bible  pictures  that  hung  on 

86 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACRES  87 

our  walls.  The  lessons  embraced  the  salient  points  in 
Bible  history  and  doctrine,  beginning  with  the  story  of 
Creation  and  the  Garden  of  Eden  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  ending  with  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus 
in  the  New.  We  also  gave  them  talks  on  the  Life  and 
Journeys  of  St.  Paul.  How  delighted  they  were  at  the 
story  of  Jacob's  ladder,  telling  us,  as  they  gazed  on  the 
picture,  that  they,  too,  would  like  to  climb  that  ladder 
to  be  among  the  angels.  Soon  not  only  the  children 
but  also  the  mothers  came  to  the  lessons.  All  were 
touched  by  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  "  The 
priest  and  the  Levite  are  just  like  our  priests,"  said 
one  woman.  "  They,  too,  pass  by  on  the  other  side  when 
anyone  is  in  trouble."  The  women  were  particularly 
interested  in  the  miracle  at  the  gate  of  Nain.  Our  pic- 
ture showed  a  city  gate  just  like  a  Chinese  one,  and 
that  made  it  so  vivid;  and  then  the  women  could  enter 
into  the  mother's  grief  at  the  death  of  a  son  and  share 
her  joy  when  the  Great  Physician  restored  the  vital 
spark.  Other  pictures  and  the  lessons  suggested  by 
them  made  deep  impressions,  viz:  The  Healing  of 
Blind  Bartimeus,  The  Prodigal  Son,  The  Death,  Eesur- 
rection  and  Ascension  of  Jesus,  Paul  chained  to  a 
Roman  Soldier,  and  Peter  in  Prison. 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  one  little  Tibetan 
boy  who  never  forgot  anything  we  told  him ;  the  amount 
of  Bible  knowledge  he  acquired  was  truly  astonishing, 
and  I  fondly  believe  that  his  heart  was  good  ground, 
and  that  some  day  the  good  seed  sovra  in  it  will  bring 
forth  fruit.  I  shall  never  forget  how  heartily  the  child- 
ren sang  the  hymns  which   with  great   difficulty  we 


88  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

taught  them.  The  Tibetans,  we  found,  possess  much 
better  ideas  of  melody  than  the  Chinese.  The  discords 
at  first  were  shocking,  but  by  the  help  of  Mr.  Kijnhart's 
concertina  and  my  violin  the  tunes  were  carried  through. 
On  Christmas  of  1895  we  gave  the  children  a  feast  of 
waffles  and  milk  tea.  Some  of  the  women  present  said 
that  if  their  people  followed  our  doctrine  they  would 
be  better,  and  added  that  we  taught  the  children  only 
what  was  good.  Mr.  Rijnhart  spoke  much  with  the 
lamas  about  religious  matters,  losing  no  opportunity  of 
pressing  the  Gospel  message.  Ishinima  declared  that  if 
the  Mohammedans  did  not  come  to  attack  Lusar  and 
Kumbum  it  would  be  because  we  were  there  and  had 
prayed  to  the  "  Heavenly  Ruler  "  to  guard  us,  and  to 
our  certain  knowledge  Ishinima  himself  laid  aside  a 
Buddha  idol  which  he  had  always  taken  to  bed  for  pro- 
tection, and  put  his  trust  in  the  "  Heavenly  Euler." 

The  Chinese  said  we  were  carrying  on  our  mission  for 
the  purpose  of  accumulating  merit  for  ourselves,  al- 
though they  did  not  dispute  that  our  work  was  good. 
They  seemed  incapable  of  conceiving  the  possibility  of 
a  single  disinterested  action,  much  less  a  life  of  altru- 
ism, and  still  less  a  mission  of  sacrifice  and  service  out 
of  love  to  God  and  man. 

The  fall  of  Shen-ch'un,  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  led  to  the  temporary  opening  of  the  road  to 
Sining,  though  as  yet  only  large  bodies  of  men  would 
attempt  the  journey,  for  thousands  of  Mohammedans 
roamed  about  the  valleys  on  either  side  of  the  Nan 
Chuan  sweeping  everything  before  them.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem,  though  Sining  was  not  twenty  miles  from 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACEES  89 

us,  we  knew  very  little  about  the  progress  of  the  rebel- 
lion in  its  vicinity,  so  close  had  been  the  investment  of 
Kumbum  and  the  surrounding  villages.  At  length  we 
learned  that  for  months  after  the  rebellion  broke  out 
the  Mohammedans  in  the  large  eastern  suburb  of  the 
city  had  remained  neutral,  and  had  emphatically  ex- 
pressed their  intention  to  take  no  part  whatever  in  the 
struggle  of  their  co-religionists.  But  the  Chinese  did 
not  trust  their  word  implicitly,  and  kept  thousands  of 
soldiers  on  the  city  walls,  being  especially  vigilant  on 
the  side  overlooking  the  Mohammedan  quarter.  The 
double  gates  had  been  barricaded  and  all  the  houses 
near  the  walls  had  been  destroyed,  lest  they  might  be 
used  for  protection  in  case  of  an  attack.  On  September 
1,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  reported  successes  of  the  rebel 
arms  elsewhere,  that  which  was  long  feared  took  place. 
The  Mohammedans  in  the  suburb  began  to  attack  the 
city,  and  their  cannon  played  with  great  precision  on 
the  troops  stationed  on  the  wall.  The  chen-tai's  gun- 
ners also  made  good  practice  on  the  rebels  who  swarmed 
on  the  walls  of  the  suburb,  and  so  courageous  and 
determined  were  the  latter  that  when  the  man  who 
served  the  cannon  was  struck  he  was  dragged  away 
by  another,  who  took  his  place,  and  this  was  re- 
peated six  times.  When  shortly  afterwards  the  gov- 
ernment troops  occupied  the  suburb  a  man  was 
found  pinned  to  his  cannon,  having  been  killed  while 
standing  bravely  at  his  post.  For  days  the  long 
Kuan,  or  "  Eastern  Suburb,"  provided  a  safe  re- 
treat for  rebels  from  surrounding  districts  who  were 
daring  enough  to  brave  the  cavalry  of  the  chen-tai. 


90  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  approach  the  very  wall  of  the  city,  while  the  thou- 
sands of  courageous  inhabitants  of  the  suburb  seemed 
to  be  filled  with  recklessness;  for,  devoid  of  all  fear, 
they  swarmed  over  the  hills  adjacent  to  the  city, 
apparently  unaffected  by  the  rifles  and  cannon  of 
the  Chinese  troops,  who  were  straining  every  effort 
to  hold  the  city  until  reinforcements  arrived.  Noth- 
ing incensed  the  Chinese  more  than  the  willful 
destruction  of  the  beautiful  Nan  Hsi  Si  temples  on  a 
hill  just  beside  the  city  walls,  to  which  the  Sining  peo- 
ple resorted  sometimes  for  worship,  and  sometimes  to 
witness  theatrical  performances.  These  temples  were 
the  pride  of  the  district  and  so  strong  was  the  popular 
feeling  regarding  their  destruction,  that  as  soon  as  the 
war  was  over,  the  chen-tai  and  his  troops  undertook 
the  work  of  rebuilding  them,  sparing  no  pains  to  restore 
their  former  beauty  and  magnificence. 

After  ineffectual  attempts  to  storm  the  city,  the 
Tong  Kuan  Mohammedans  assumed  an  inoffensive  atti- 
tude, and  finally  tendered  submission  to  the  city  gov- 
ernment, an  act  that  was  never  looked  upon  with  favor 
on  account  of  their  great  treachery  in  rebelling  at  all. 
When  General  Li  with  his  troops  arrived  from  Lan- 
cheo  at  the  city  gates,  he  was  not  allowed  to  enter 
because  his  coming  had  not  been  officially  announced, 
but  being  regarded  as  a  sympathizer  with  the  rebels, 
was  compelled  to  take  up  quarters  in  the  suburb  with 
the  Mohammedans.  He  it  was  who  had  advised  the 
latter  to  give  up  further  resistance  at  the  Siao  Hsia, 
and  acted  as  arbitrator  or  mediator  between  the  bellig- 
erents, even  calling  a  meeting  of  all  the  rebel  chiefs 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACRES  91 

from  the  Northern  Valley  and  Topa  to  discuss  terms 
of  peace.  Communication  with  Lancheo  was  now 
opened,  bodies  of  soldiers  were  stationed  along  the  roads, 
and  reinforcements  began  to  arrive  in  large  numbers 
at  Sining.  We  took  advantage  of  the  situation  to  pay 
a  visit  to  the  latter  city.  With  what  delight  we  anti- 
cipated, and  how  much  we  enjoyed,  a  reunion  with 
the  missionaries  there,  may  be  imagined,  for  six  long 
weary  months  had  passed  away  since  we  had  seen  a 
white  face. 

Soon  after  our  return  to  Kumbum  some  of  the  Tong 
Kuan  Mohammedans,  fearing  treachery  on  the  part 
of  the  Chinese,  quietly  left  Sining  for  other  places,  and 
one  of  them,  disguised  as  an  ordinary  Chinaman,  ar- 
rived at  Lusar,  but  was  recognized  by  some  one  and 
put  to  death.  As  his  captors  were  cutting  his  throat 
with  a  very  blunt  knife,  he  told  them  to  use  a  sharper 
one  and  to  be  quick  about  it.  About  noon  that  day  a 
young  farmer  came  to  our  door  bringing  on  the  end 
of  a  stick  a  human  heart,  saying  that  he  had  been  told 
we  foreigners  used  parts  of  the  human  body  to  make 
medicine  of,  and  he  had  brought  us  the  heart  of  a 
Mohammedan  for  sale,  expecting  a  large  price  for  it. 
He  was  disappointed  and  even  incredulous  when  we 
said  we  never  used  any  part  of  the  human  body  for 
such  a  purpose.  The  belief  of  the  Chinese  that  foreign- 
ers in  this  way  manufacture  medicines  is  made  much 
of  by  the  "  Boxers "  and  other  fanatics,  and  is  the 
cause  that  leads  up  to  many  anti-foreign  riots,  in 
which  mission  houses  are  looted  and  the  missionaries 
themselves  sometimes  killed. 


92  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

There  was  considerable  traffic  on  the  Sining  road  and 
by  means  of  messages  that  came  up^  and  our  repeated 
visits,  we  were  thenceforth  able  to  follow  the  course 
of  events  in  and  around  the  city.  Toward  the  end 
of  February  General  Wei  arrived  at  Sining  with  his 
army  of  soldiers  from  Central  China,  determined  to 
settle  the  Mohammedans  of  the  Tong  Kuan  once  for 
all.  For  this  purpose  thousands  of  the  Emperor's 
soldiers  were  quartered  in  the  suburb.  Eighty-five  of 
the  young  leaders  were  captured,  led  into  the  city  amid 
the  cheers  of  the  excited  and  delighted  populace,  and 
beheaded  in  the  front  of  the  chen-tai  yamen,  the  heads 
and  bodies  being  thrown  outside  of  the  western  gate 
where  the  dogs  that  had  been  half  starved  for  months 
snapped  and  snarled,  while  they  feasted  on  human  flesh. 
The  work  of  carnage  then  began  in  the  suburb  and  thou- 
sands of  men,  women  and  children  were  ruthlessly  mas- 
sacred by  the  imperial  soldiers,  some  said  by  Hunan 
men,  others  by  Sining  men,  for  all  recognized  that 
the  slaughter  of  those  defenseless  people  was  a  breach 
of  honor,  a  disgrace  to  the  army,  and  so  endeavored 
to  shift  the  responsibility  of  the  deed.  Many  a  meal 
of  human  hearts  and  livers  was  partaken  of  by  soldiers, 
who  were  anxious  to  possess  the  courage  their  enemies 
had  displayed;  and  believing  that  the  qualities  would 
be  transferred  from  the  eaten  heart  to  the  one  who  de- 
voured it,  they  lost  no  opportunity  of  in  this  way  pos- 
sessing themselves  of  the  admired  reckless  daring  of 
the  rebels. 

As  Topa  had  been  the  refuge  of  the  Mohammedans 
from  captured  villages,  it  was  also  the  center  from 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACKES  93 

whicli  the  armed  rebels  had  sallied  forth  on  their  war- 
like manoeuvres,  and  at  the  time  General  Wei  had 
arrived  at  Sining,  was  the  stronghold  where  it  was 
estimated  that  forty  thousand  were  prepared  to  make  a 
final  stand  against  the  government  troops.  The  chen- 
tai  and  his  soldiers  occupied  Chen  hai  pu,  a  well  forti- 
fied impregnable  Chinese  fort  a  mile  from  Topa,  which 
latter  was  situated  across  the  Hsi-ho  river  that  pro- 
tected it  on  one  side  as  there  was  no  bridge,  while 
hills  surrounded  it  on  the  other  sides,  providing  on 
the  whole,  a  strong  position  for  defense.  At  the  invi- 
tation of  one  of  the  commanders  of  the  Chinese  army, 
we  went  to  the  above  mentioned  fort,  where  we  treated 
all  the  wounded  and  sick  soldiers  during  the  remaining 
time  that  hostilities  were  in  operation.  On  our  arrival, 
we  found  the  place  full  of  troops,  and  were  it  not  for 
the  influence  of  some  leaders  we  would  have  had  no 
room  to  stay  in;  and  even  then,  we  shared  one  corner 
of  the  Vang  where  slept  nearly  a  dozen  men,  women 
and  children  who  had  vacated  every  other  room  in 
the  house  for  the  Sining  troops,  while  the  Hunan  army 
was  stationed  outside  the  fort  in  tents.  "We  were  not 
long  there  before  we  had  many  wounded  to  treat,  and 
in  the  evening  we  mounted  steps  up  to  the  wall  and 
had  a  good  view  of  the  great  fort  of  Topa  and  sur- 
rounding country.  The  suburbs  of  Chen  hai  pu  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  Chinese  themselves,  temples, 
shops  and  houses  having  been  almost  razed  to  the 
ground,  while  every  available  tree  had  been  used  for 
fuel.  The  wall  had  heaps  of  stones  that  were  intended 
for  use  in  times  of  attack,  and  little  mud-brick  houses 


94  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

had  been  built  only  a  few  feet  apart  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  wall,  to  be  used  as  protection  during  the 
cold  nights  of  the  winter,  while  the  appointed  guard  pa- 
trolled the  walls,  the  citizens  taking  this  task  in  turns. 
As  we  walked  on  the  wall  we  met  Brigadier-General 
Teng,  the  chen-tai  of  Sining,  an  unassuming  man 
dressed  plainly  and  with  such  a  pleasant  smile  as  he 
greeted  us  in  passing,  for  no  one  appreciated  more  than 
he  the  services  rendered  the  sufferers  in  the  rebellion 
by  the  missionaries  in  Sining  and  Kumbum.  He  re- 
turned to  the  former  place  with  all  his  soldiers  the 
following  day  and  the  task  of  reducing  Topa  fell  to 
General  Wei,  half  of  whose  troops  were  quartered  out- 
side Chen  hai  pu  and  half  at  Heh  tsui  tsi  on  the  river 
five  miles  beyond,  so  that  they  held  the  Mohammedan 
stronghold  between  two  bodies  of  men,  who  unfortun- 
ately, did  not  and  would  not  work  in  unison  during  an 
attack;  yet  they  both  did  good  service,  as  a  result  of 
which  thousands  of  Mohammedans  were  killed  and 
wounded,  and  the  others  became  demoralized.  With 
other  spectators  we  watched  from  the  wall  the  bom- 
bardment of  Topa,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  and  no- 
ticed with  what  precision  and  order  the  foot  soldiers, 
who  had  received  foreign  drill,  marched  onward  in  a 
black  mass  to  the  attack,  while  the  cavalry — who  were, 
as  a  rule,  unaccustomed  to  ride  over  such  uneven 
ground  as  the  harvest  fields  about  the  forts — rode  on  in 
full  tilt  against  the  Mohammedans  who  endeavored  to 
meet  the  attacking  party  and  turn  it  outside  the  fort. 
Once  the  cavalry  put  one  party  of  five  hundred  rebels  to 
flight  back  toward  the  gates  which  had  been  closed  by 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACRES  95 

the  frenzied  people  within,  and  only  a  half  dozen  of  that 
party  escaped,  the  remainder  having  been  killed  just 
beside  their  own  gates.  The  casualties  among  the 
Chinese  cavalry  that  day  were  large,  but  their  victory 
was  a  telling  one,  and  had  its  effect  in  bringing  home 
to  the  Mohammedans  the  hopelessness  of  their  struggle. 
Another  bombardment  was  planned  in  which  the  in- 
fantry and  cannon  attacked  one  side  while  the  cavalry 
engaged  the  other.  We  repaired  to  the  camps  of  the 
soldiers  as  the  wounded  had  begun  to  arrive,  carried  in 
by  their  companions  sometimes  in  a  basket  made  from 
a  garment  hung  on  a  spear,  sometimes  on  a  man's  back, 
but  always  with  tenderness.  They  lay  in  rows  in  the 
open  beside  the  tents,  while,  as  swiftly  as  we  could,  we 
gave  each  one  in  his  turn  the  attention  he  needed,  the 
patient's  companions  running  after  water  and  whatever 
was  necessary ;  and  so  for  hours  and  hours,  as  the  battle 
raged  outside,  the  men  were  brought  in  and  laid  down 
to  await  their  treatment.  The  hundreds  of  wounded 
that  received  attention  those  days  necessitated  the  use 
of  so  many  bandages  and  dressings  that  the  demand  for 
suitable  cloth  was  supplied  by  using  our  sheets  and 
pillow  cases  that  had  been  provided  for  use  in  a  hospital 
which  we  had  hoped  to  found  at  Lusar.  The  commander 
had  put  at  our  disposal  a  puhtsi  or  shop,  to  which  the 
wounded  who  could  walk  came  for  dressings,  and  those 
who  could  not  come  were  treated  in  their  tents  in  the 
different  camps.  Our  food  was  brought  to  us  already 
prepared  from  the  commander's  kitchen,  a  great  help 
indeed,  for  the  immense  number  of  soldiers  made  food 
very  scarce,  and,  besides,  we  had  no  kitchen  in  our 


96  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

"  shop."  The  men  from  Central  China  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  rice  food  fared  very  poorly  in  Chen  hai 
pu,  for  only  flour  could  be  bought,  and  they  did  not  know- 
how  to  prepare  m'ien,  but  put  it  in  large  lumps  instead 
of  thin  strips  into  the  water,  and  as  a  result  ate  indiges- 
tible pieces  of  tough  half-cooked  dough.  This  lack  of 
proper  food,  the  cold  to  which  they  were  unaccustomed 
and  for  which  they  were  inadequately  clad,  the 
deep  cellars  they  dug  under  their  tents  to  provide  more 
room  for  the  thirteen  men  quartered  in  each  tent,  where 
their  cooking  also  had  to  be  done,  caused  an  outbreak 
of  disease  among  the  troops,  so  that  we  had  in  all  a  thou- 
sand or  more  patients.  Many  of  the  wounded  men  re- 
ceived rice,  vermicelli  and  eggs  from  us,  or  they  would 
certainly  have  succumbed  to  their  wounds.  Also,  we 
used  our  influence  with  the  commanders,  inducing  them 
to  provide  from  their  personal  stores  some  suitable 
food  for  their  men. 

The  practice  made  by  the  gunners  of  these  troops  was 
bad;  hence  the  cannon  were  of  very  little  use,  and  the 
land  torpedoes  that  had  been  placed  were  of  no  avail, 
for  the  Mohammedans  did  not  pass  over  the  spot  where 
they  had  been  buried.  One  had  in  the  night  been  put 
Just  outside  one  of  the  gates  of  the  rebel  fort,  where  it 
was  discovered  very  early  the  following  morning  by  a 
little  group  of  Mohammedans  who  cut  the  wire  attached 
to  it,  carried  it  into  the  fort  and  instead  of  knocking 
it  open,  as  a  Chinaman  would  have  done,  buried  it 
where  it  could  do  no  harm;  but  the  torpedoes  filled 
them  with  fear  and  superstition,  for  soon  afterwards 
they  proffered  submission,  which  was  accepted  on  con- 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACKES  97 

dition  that  their  leaders  and  all  their  arms  should  be 
brought  to  Chen  hai  pu.  This  was  done  and  bodies  of 
rebels  guarded  by  troops  marched  past  our  door,  with 
large  bundles  of  guns  and  spears  over  their  shoulders, 
and  when  they  had  deposited  them  at  the  yamen  were 
allowed  to  return  to  their  homes,  the  leaders  alone  hav- 
ing been  retained.  These  latter,  stripped  to  the  waist, 
were  marched  past  our  door  two  by  two  to  the  outside 
of  the  city  gate,  and  beheaded,  each  by  one  stroke  of 
a  soldier's  knife.  The  bodies  were  buried  and  the  heads 
carried  in  baskets  back  to  the  yamen,  one  occasionally 
rolling  out  into  the  dust  in  the  road.  Such  scenes 
have  a  demoralizing  effect  on  a  community,  and  in 
this  generation  the  evil  effects  of  that  rebellion  with  its 
cruelty  and  bloodshed,  will  have  worn  away  neither 
from  the  Mohammedans  nor  Chinese. 

Not  long  afterwards  we  were  provided  with  a  "  shop  " 
in  Topa  where  were  quartered  certain  detachments  of 
imperial  troops  which  had  all  left  Chen  hai  pu,  and 
after  a  little  hesitation  I  went  with  my  husband  and  a 
large  escort  of  picked  men  well  mounted  into  the  rebel 
town.  We  found  that  the  suburbs  had  been  almost  de- 
stroyed in  the  bombardment  by  cannon,  also  that  the 
Chinese  temples  having  been  used  by  the  Mohammedans 
as  dwellings,  were  scarcely  injured.  There  were  two 
walls  around  Topa,  an  exterior  and  an  interior  one,  the 
latter  surrounding  a  closely  built  fort,  separated  from 
the  other  by  many  buildings.  Within  the  outer 
wall  had  been  dug  deep  trenches  for  further  defence, 
and  it  was  plain  that  had  the  troops  succeeded  in  forc- 
ing an  entrance  into  the  outer  fort,  thousands  would 


98  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

have  fallen,  for  the  Mohammedans  were  well  armed 
with  guns,  swords  and  spears,  even  foreign  guns  be- 
ing possessed  in  large  numbers.  The  Mohammedan 
woman  who  owned  the  shop  we  wgre  in,  told  me  that 
even  before  the  final  bombardment,  many  of  the  young 
Mohammedan  men  had  been  killed,  and  she  said  that 
most  of  them  were  pressed  into  the  fray  by  circum- 
stances and  the  commands  of  their  leaders.  She  and 
her  husband,  a  shoe-maker  by  trade,  had  lived  in  the 
suburbs  of  Chen  hai  pu,  and  having  been  warned  by  the 
Chinese  one  day,  had  gone  to  Topa  to  sleep,  not  taking 
anything  with  them  except  the  clothing  they  wore  and 
a  little  money.  That  very  night  the  Chinese  had  at- 
tacked the  suburb,  stolen  what  they  could  and  destroyed 
every  house  and  temple.  They  were  then  forced  to  re- 
main in  Topa,  but  her  husband  kept  out  of  sight  as 
much  as  possible,  refusing  to  take  any  part  in  the  fight- 
ing, until  one  morning  he  found  a  small  piece  of  paper 
at  his  door  with  an  order  from  the  leader  or  ahon  for 
him  to  join  a  sortie  in  the  valley  toward  Sining.  Hav- 
ing no  horse,  but  not  daring  to  disobey,  for  that  would 
mean  death,  her  husband  took  a  spear  and  joined  the 
party  of  two  hundred,  only  eighteen  of  whom  returned 
alive,  he  not  being  of  the  number. 

The  war  was  now  practically  over.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  the  fighting  men  of  Topa  had  been  killed,  some 
had  submitted,  while  fully  20,000  fled  toward  Turkes- 
tan, spreading  consternation  among  the  nomads  of  the 
Koko-nor,  as  they  passed  through  their  country,  plun- 
dering and  devastating  without  mercy.  Many  of  them 
perished  of  cold  and  starvation  on  the  desolate  plains. 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACRES  99 

General  Wei  and  his  troops  returned  to  Sining,  while 
General  Teng,  a  military  officer  of  still  higher  rank, 
took  his  place,  and,  saying  that  his  predecessor  had  no 
authority  to  accept  submission  on  the  conditions  he  had 
made,  he  demanded  one  thousand  more  heads  of  lead- 
ers. These  were  reluctantly  and  yet  speedily  caught  by 
their  companions,  taken  down  to  Sining  and  beheaded. 
The  remaining  population  of  Topa  were  robbed  by  the 
soldiers  of  almost  everything  of  value  they  possessed, 
and  were  then  sent  to  the  small  northern  valley  where 
they  were  permitted  to  reside,  their  lands  having  been 
confiscated.  Thus  the  Government  of  China  had  dis- 
played, through  the  commanders  of  its  army,  such 
treachery  and  lack  of  honor  as  might  easily  lead  to 
fresh  trouble,  and  yet  the  Mohammedans  around  Sining 
have  received  such  a  crushing  defeat  as  to  render  them 
unable  to  rebel,  unless  as  a  revenge  for  the  atrocities 
in  the  Tong  Kuan,  those  of  Hocheo  should  sweep  all 
before  them,  capture  Sining,  which  would  make  an  ad- 
mirable stronghold,  and  gain  possession  of  the  whole 
western  portion  of  Kansu.  Tankar  has  no  more  Mo- 
hammedans, the  people  having  at  the  command  of  the 
official,  fallen  upon  the  few  hundred  residing  there, 
slaughtering  them  all.  The  walls  of  Topa  have  been 
almost  leveled,  the  beautiful  mosque  has  been  destroyed, 
and  the  green  tiles  and  bricks  composing  it  have  been 
taken  to  Sining  at  the  order  of  the  fu-tai  to  be  used 
probably  for  building  temples  for  the  Chinese.  The 
only  Mohammedans  to  be  seen  for  somo  time  afterwards 
in  the  Tong  Kuan  were  beggars,  and  those  who  had 
come  to  sell  small  wares,  and  I  understand  that  the 


100  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Sining  authorities  are  not  again  to  permit  them  to  re- 
side even  in  a  suburb,  though  if  they  adhere  to  their  pur- 
pose, trade  will  not  be  by  any  means  so  brisk. 

All  the  troops  from  Central  China  were  disbanded  in 
Western  Kansu  and  as  many  of  them  had  no  means  of 
livelihood,  they  became  highwaymen,  being  as  much 
a  terror  to  the  timid  Chinese  as  had  been  the  Moham- 
medans, for  they  attacked  and  killed  without  mercy. 

As  a  total  of  100,000  were  estimated  to  have  been 
slain  during  the  war,  there  were  in  many  districts  no 
farmers  left  to  cultivate  the  land,  and  in  some  places 
the  people  had  great  difficulty  in  getting  enough  seed 
to  sow  and  implements  to  work  with,  though  the  offi- 
cials had  granted  considerable  relief  for  this  purpose. 
When  the  harvest  had  been  sown,  it  was  in  large  part 
destroyed  by  rats,  which,  attracted  probably  by  so  many 
bodies  that  had  been  given  improper  burial,  spread  like 
another  army  over  the  fields,  leaving  waste  and  sorrow- 
ing hearts  behind  it.  For  these  various  reasons,  there 
was,  when  even  two  summers  had  intervened  after  the 
war,  great  want  among  the  laboring  classes,  and  years 
will  elapse  before  even  in  a  slight  degree  the  effects 
of  the  rebellion  will  wear  away. 

When  peace  had  been  declared  Mr.  Eijnhart,  to  the 
consternation  of  both  Tibetans  and  Chinese,  went  to 
the  Mohammedan  quarters  at  Topa  to  treat  the  Moham- 
medan wounded.  It  had  been  understood  that  because 
we  had  helped  the  Chinese  and  Tibetan  soldiers,  there- 
fore we  shared  their  hatred  of  their  enemies  and  could 
not  possibly  have  a  kind  thought  for  them.  When  they 
saw  that  the  missionary  was  just  as  kind  and  tender  to 


MISSIONS  AND  MASSACEES  101 

the  Mohammedans  as  to  themselves,  they  were  utterly 
amazed.  The  law  of  Christian  kindness  impelling  love 
and  mercy  even  for  one's  enemies  was  vividly  brought 
to  their  attention,  and  some,  as  they  pondered  the  les- 
son, thought  again  of  the  colored  Bible  picture  on  the 
wall  of  our  house  in  Lusar — the  picture  of  the  Good 
Samaritan.  There  they  had  learned  the  lesson  in  story 
— the  missionary  had  translated  it  into  action. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM 

Tibetan  Lamaseries — Legend  of  Tsong  K'aba — Origin 
of  Kumbum — The  Gold  Tiled  Temple  and  Sacred 
Tree — Nocturnal  Devotions  and  Worship  of  the  But- 
ter God. 

The  lamaseries  in  Central  Asia  are,  like  the  cathe- 
drals in  Europe,  the  most  imposing  monuments  of  re- 
ligious life ;  but  while  the  spires  and  domes  of  the  latter 
tower  above  the  teeming  city  and  look  down  upon  all 
the  refinements  and  activities  of  civilization,  these  rude 
sanctuaries  of  Buddhism  are  frequently  situated  in 
the  most  secluded  and  sometimes  even  in  the  most  in- 
accessible spots  on  the  rugged  Tibetan  plateau.  Some 
of  them  are  miles  away  from  any  village  or  encamp- 
ment, and  though  they  cannot  boast  the  exquisite  ar- 
tistic finish  and  massive  splendor  of  Cologne,  Strass- 
burg  or  San  Marco,  yet  they  possess  a  sturdy  pictur- 
esqueness  all  their  own.  They  are  built  sometimes  in 
a  sheltered  ravine,  but  more  usually  on  the  mountain 
side,  often  perched  high  upon  some  jutting  mass  of 
rock,  and  reached  after  laborious  climbing  by  means 
of  zig-zag  stairways  hewn  out  of  the  stone.  The  archi- 
tecture is  fantastic  and  irregular,  consisting  of  a  num- 

102 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM        103 

ber  of  square  and  oblong  buildings  rising  tier  above  tier 
against  the  hillside  or  thrown  together  without  any 
apparent  plan,  and  ornamented  by  rude  battlements, 
bridges  and  exterior  stairways,  the  whole  crowned  by 
an  abrupt  flat-roofed  tower,  or  by  several  small  turrets 
varying  in  shape. 

These  lamaseries,  or  gomhas,  are  the  abodes  of  the 
Tibetan  priesthood  which  constitutes,  it  is  estimated, 
about  one-seventh  of  the  entire  population  of  Tibet.  In 
the  gomhas  at  Lhasa  there  are  said  to  be  no  less  than 
15,000  lamas,  while  in  the  province  of  Amdo  alone, 
according  to  information  gathered  by  W.  W.  Eockhill, 
the  number  of  lamas  is  somewhere  between  25,000  and 
30,000,  residing  in  twenty-four  lamaseries,  each  accom- 
modating from  200  to  5,000.  Two-thirds  of  these  lamas 
are  Koko-nor  Tibetans,  the  remaining  third  Koko-nor 
and  Ts'aidam  Mongols,  Eastern  Mongols  and  Tibetans. 

The  lamasery  of  Kumbum,  in  which  we  resided  du- 
ring the  rebellion,  and  with  which,  on  account  of  our 
friendship  with  the  abbot,  we  had  such  rare  opportuni- 
ties to  become  acquainted,  is,  as  already  intimated, 
one  of  the  greatest  and  most  famous  in  all  Central  Asia. 
More  than  a  half  century  ago,  M.  Hue  visited  it  and 
described  its  site  as  "  one  of  enchanting  beauty."  It 
reposes  in  a  fertile  valley,  through  which  a  stream 
flows,  dividing  it  into  two  parts.  On  either  side  of  the 
stream  and  up  the  opposite  hillsides  repose  the  white 
dwellings  of  the  lamas,  rising  terrace  above  terrace  in 
amphitheatrical  order.  The  more  pretentious  residence 
of  the  Tcanpo  situated  upon  the  highest  row  up  the 
hillside,  is  conspicuous  by  its  bright  red  colored  walls. 


104  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

The  ordinary  lamas'  dwellings  are  kept  spotlessly  white, 
a  coat  of  lime-wash  being  periodically  applied  in  a  very 
novel  but  not  the  less  effective  manner,  for  instead  of 
putting  it  on  with  a  brush,  the  lamas  stand  high  up  on 
a  ladder  or  on  the  roof  and  empty  large  pitcherfuls  of 
the  liquid  on  to  the  walls,  letting  it  run  down  to  the 
ground,  doing  its  work  as  it  goes.  On  the  western  side 
of  the  stream  are  the  temples,  well-built  structures 
of  burnt  brick  with  gaudily  painted  walls  surrounded 
by  colonnades,  having  roofs  of  slanting  tiles,  the  ends 
of  which,  projecting  over  the  walls,  are  tinged  with 
bright  blue  or  green.  There  is  one  temple  which  stands 
out  in  bold  and  dazzling  relief  against  all  others.  It 
is  the  gold-roofed  temple  of  Tsong  K'aba,  which  the 
lamas  call  Jo  K'ang,  or  "  Home  of  the  Buddha."  This 
temple  is  the  center  of  interest  in  Kumbum  and  is  the 
crowning  pride  of  all  the  people  of  Amdo,  who  hold  it 
to  be  particularly  sacred.  It  is  about  fifty  feet  square ; 
its  walls  are  of  sculptured  wood  and  present  a  mosaic 
of  many  tints  which  led  Hue  to  speak  of  them  as 
"  sparkling  with  a  thousand  brilliant  colors ; "  it  has 
two  roofs,  a  lower  one  and  an  upper  one,  the  latter  rest- 
ing on  a  row  of  short  red  lacquered  pillars;  the  lower 
roof  is  much  wider  than  the  top  one,  projecting  consid- 
erably beyond  the  main  wall  after  the  usual  Chinese 
style.  The  tiles  of  both  roofs  are  covered  with  heavy 
gold  plate,  concerning  the  precise  thickness  of  which 
there  seems  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion.  Some  of  the 
lamas  told  us  it  was  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  thickness, 
others  said  half  an  inch. 

Tsong  K'aba,  whose  name  the  gold-tiled  temple  com- 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM        105 

memorates,  was  the  Luther  of  Tibetan  Buddhism  and 
flourished  in  the  fourteenth  century.  The  lamasery 
chronicles  are  rich  in  records,  half  mythical  and  half 
historical,  of  the  career  of  this  wonderful  man,  the 
lamasery  itself  deriving  its  name  from  an  incident  in 
connection  with  his  birth.  The  word  "  Kumbum "  is 
a  combination  of  two  Tibetan  words  meaning  "ten 
thousand  images  "  and  was  first  applied  to  a  marvel- 
ous tree,  a  descendant  of  which  still  exists  at  the  lama- 
sery. The  lamas  gravely  relate  the  story  of  the  won- 
derful child,  how  he  was  born  with  a  white  beard,  long 
flowing  locks,  wise  countenance,  fully  developed  mental 
powers  and  ready  speech.  At  the  age  of  three  years  he 
resolved  to  renounce  the  world  and  to  devote  himself 
to  the  contemplation  of  the  Buddha's  doctrine.  His 
mother,  sjonpathizing  with  the  holy  ambition  of  her 
son,  cut  off  his  beautiful  hair  and  threw  it  into  the 
courtyard,  when  lo,  immediately  there  sprang  up  from 
it  &  tree,  on  every  leaf  of  which  was  visible  an  image 
of  the  "  Lord  Buddha."  The  young  student  sat  at  the 
feet  of  the  most  illustrious  lamas  of  his  day,  resided 
some  time  at  Lhasa,  and  eventually  led  a  reform  move- 
ment which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  a  new  sect,  that 
of  the  Gelu,  or  "  Yellow  Caps  "  as  distinguished  from 
the  "  Eed  Caps "  or  those  of  the  conservative  school. 
Tsong  Ivaba  introduced  radical  changes  in  the  Budd- 
hist liturgy,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  new  worship,  found- 
ed the  great  lamasery  of  Kaldan  which  still  flourishes 
about  nine  miles  from  Lhasa,  and  is  said  to  contain 
8,000  lamas.  ISTot  only  by  the  immense  number  of 
adherents  that  were  won  to  his  views  during  his  life- 


106  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

time,  but  also  by  the  literary  productions  he  left  behind 
him,  Tseng  K'aba's  influence  has  been  great  during  the 
last  five  centuries  of  Tibetan  history.  The  most  import- 
ant of  his  works  are  an  edition  of  the  sayings  of  Gau- 
tama Buddha  and  a  religio-philosophical  treatise  on 
"  The  Progressive  Path  to  Perfection."  The  early  fol- 
lowers of  Tsong  K'aba  were  very  zealous  in  propagating 
the  Gelupa  doctrines  and  as  a  result  of  their  missionary 
labors,  fraternities  of  the  yellew  sect  were  established 
in  all  parts  of  Tibet  and  in  Mongolia.  Even  the  Tibetan 
king  was  among  the  converts.  Tsong  K'aba  died  in 
1419  and  his  body,  the  lamas  assert,  is  still  preserved 
in  the  monastery  of  Kaldan  where  it  may  be  seen  in  all 
its  freshness,  by  a  perpetual  miracle  poised  in  the  air 
a  few  feet  above  the  ground,  and  to  those  who  are  far 
advanced  on  the  way  to  buddhahood,  the  great  man 
still  speaks  words  of  wisdom  and  encouragement,  al- 
though none  of  the  common  herd  can  hear  his  voice  or 
see  his  lips  move ! 

ISTo  more  interesting  question  offers  itself  to  Christ- 
ian scholarship  than  that  concerning  the  remarkable 
resemblances  between  the  ritual  of  the  Gelupa  sect  and 
that  still  in  vogue  in  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Anglican 
branches  of  Christendom.  M.  Hue,  himself  a  Roman 
Catholic,  who  visited  several  Gelupa  lamaseries,  says: 

"  Upon  the  most  superficial  examination  of  the  re- 
forms and  innovations  introduced  by  Tsong  K'aba  into 
the  lamanesque  worship,  one  must  be  struck  with  their 
affinity  to  Catholicism.  The  cross,  the  miter,  the  del- 
matica,  the  cope,  which  the  grand  lamas  wear  on  their 
journeys  or  when  they  are  performing  some  ceremony 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM         107 

out  of  the  temple,  the  service  with  double  choirs,  the 
psalmody,  the  exorcisms,  the  censer,  suspended  from 
five  chains,  and  which  you  can  open  or  close  at  pleasure, 
the  benedictions  given  by  the  lamas  by  extending  the 
right  hand  over  the  heads  of  the  faithful,  the  cdiaplet, 
ecclesiastical  celibacy,  spiritual  retirement,  the  worship 
of  the  saints,  the  fasts,  the  processions,  the  litanies,  the 
holy  water,  all  these  are  analogies  between  the  Budd- 
hists and  ourselves."* 

What  is  the  origin  of  these  striking  analogies?  The 
Tibetan  lamas  themselves  have  never  been  great  travel- 
ers, and  the  supposition  that  Tsong  K'aba  visited  a 
Christian  country  at  that  early  date  is  highly  improb- 
able. Hue  conjectures  that  Tsong  K'aba  met  some  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  who  were  operating 
in  China  under  Jean  de  Monteorvin,  Archbishop  of 
Pekin,  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  century,  and  who 
had  even  trained  a  choir  of  Mongols  to  chant  psalms, 
and  taught  them  Roman  Catholic  ceremonies.  Anent 
this  question  the  Tibetan  legends  speak  of  a  strange 
lama  who  came  to  the  land  of  Amdo  from  the  far 
western  regions  and  resided  in  Tsong  K'aba's  tent,  a 
man  of  wondrous  learning  and  piety,  having  a  big  nose 
and  bright  flashing  eyes.  Tsong  K'aba,  it  is  said,  sat 
at  the  feet  of  the  great  stranger  and  received  instruc- 
tion in  all  the  doctrines  of  the  west,  until  the  teacher 
fell  into  a  deep  sleep  from  which  he  never  wakened. 
Whence  this  legend  of  the  stranger  from  the  west? 
It  is  both  possible  and  probable  that  Amdo  was  visited 
by  some  of  the  early  missionaries  to  Asia,  perhaps  by 

•Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet  and  China,  by  M.  Hue,  Vol.  II,  pp.  45-46. 


108  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  Nestorians  who  had  missions  in  Western  China  as 
early  as  the  seventh  century.  Again,  it  is  known  that 
in  1325  a  Roman  Catholic  missionary  named  Friar 
Odoric  made  a  Journey  from  Northwestern  China 
through  Tibet  to  India,  and  resided  some  time  in 
Lhasa;  that  Fathers  Griiber  and  Dorville  in  1661,  and 
Desideri  and  Freyre  in  1716  made  missionary  tours,  the 
latter  residing  in  Lhasa  for  thirteen  years;  that  in 
1719  the  Capuchin  friar,  Francisco  della  Penna,  with 
twelve  co-workers  of  the  same  order,  began  a  mission  in 
Lhasa  which  flourished  until  1760.  Who  can  tell  to 
what  extent  the  residence  and  teaching  of  these  mis- 
sionaries in  Tibet  is  responsible  for  the  resemblances 
in  ritual  between  Romanism  and  Tibetan  Buddhism? 
Legend  has  in  all  probability  attributed  to  Tsong  K'aba 
more  than  his  due  with  respect  to  the  introduction  of 
Christian  forms.  That  they  have  been  gradually  in- 
corporated into  the  Tibetan  worship  as  a  net  result  of 
all  the  early  contact  with  westerners  is  a  reasonable 
view.  We  found  the  legend  of  "  the  white  lama  from 
the  west "  quite  fresh  in  the  people's  minds.  Mina 
Fuyeh  told  us  that  Tsong  K'aba  had  a  large  nose  and 
looked  like  a  European. 

The  importance  and  sacredness  of  Kumbum,  in  the 
eyes  of  Buddhists,  can  then  be  easily  understood  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  lamasery  is  so  intimately 
connected  with  such  a  commanding  personage  as  the 
great  Buddhist  reformer,  for  although  he  did  not 
actually  found  the  lamasery,  yet  to  him  alone  it  owes 
its  origin.  Pilgrims  flocked  to  worship  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  where  he  was  born ;  soon  Buddhist  priests 


TIBETAN   BL'DDHIST   LAYMAN 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM        109 

from  Inner  Tibet,  China,  Mongolia,  and  Manchuria, 
came  to  build  their  cells  there ;  the  emperors  of  China 
extended  to  it  their  protection,  and  thus  it  has  grown, 
to  its  present  status. 

Through  Mina  Fuyeh's  influence  we  had  many  oppor- 
tunities to  visit  the  "  Golden  Tiled  Temple."  Around 
its  outer  court  are  small  shrines  with  a  row  of  prayer- 
wheels,  about  three  feet  apart.  These  are  small 
cylinders  containing  rolls  of  printed  prayers.  To  turn 
these  prayer-wheels  is,  according  to  the  Buddhist  idea, 
to  accumulate  merit,  and  they  are  hardly  ever  still,  for 
every  one  who  passes  by  gives  them  a  spin.  In  the 
wooden  planks  which  form  the  threshold  of  the  shrine 
are  visible  abrasions  about  three  or  four  inches  deep, 
made  by  the  hands  and  foreheads  of  pilgrims  prostrat- 
ing themselves  before  the  great  altar  and  image  inside. 
Even  when  approaching  the  temple  afar-o£E  worshippers 
may  be  seen  kotowing  to  the  very  dust  at  every  third 
step,  gathering  zeal  and  momentum,  as  it  were,  for  the 
final  prostration  on  the  hard  planks.  By  the  thou- 
sands of  Buddhist  devotees  who  resort  thither  every 
year  and  place  their  hands  and  foreheads  in  the  same 
spots  as  the  thousands  who  have  preceded  them,  these 
planks  are  looked  upon  as  quite  as  sacred  as  are  the 
marble  steps  leading  to  St.  Peter's,  by  the  multitudes 
of  Roman  Catholic  pilgrims  who  flock  annually  to  the 
Eternal  City. 

It  is  only  once  a  year,  on  the  first  day  of  the  third 
moon,  that  women  are  permitted  to  enter  the  temple, 
and  when  that  auspicious  day  came  I  was  privileged, 
through  the  influence  of  Mina  Fuyeh,  to  go  in  with  the 


110  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Mongol  and  Tibetan  women,  although  it  was  known 
that  I  would  not  take  part  in  their  idolatrous  worship. 
The  first  thing  that  greeted  us  on  entering  was  a  huge 
image  of  Tsong  K'aba  in  sitting  posture  upon  a  deco- 
rated throne.  The  throne  is  about  ten  feet  high,  and  the 
image  wrought,  the  lamas  told  us,  in  solid  gold,  is 
perhaps  six  feet  high.  If  the  image  is  of  gold  it  must 
be  of  fabulous  worth,  for  it  is  altogether  of  massive 
proportions,  and  indeed,  if  it  is  only  plated,  as  we 
sometimes  supposed,  it  would  still  be  one  of  the  most 
valuable  possessions  of  the  lamasery,  from  a  material 
standpoint  as  well  as  from  a  religious  one.  Immedi- 
ately in  front  of  the  image  was  an  immense  oblong 
altar  literally  covered  with  holy  water  vases,  and  but- 
ter lamps  large  and  small.  Of  the  butter  lamps  there 
must  have  been  several  hundred  all  lighted  for  this 
special  occasion.  Standing  before  the  altar  and  amid 
the  blazing  light  of  the  lamps,  I  looked  up  into  the 
face  of  one  of  the  greatest  idols  of  Tibetan  Buddhism, 
while  all  around  me  were  bowed  the  worshippers,  mut- 
tering prayers  and  pouring  out  before  it  the  homage  of 
their  hearts.  The  idol  truly  had  never  been  more 
radiant  than  on  that  day,  when  the  sheen  of  many 
sacred  flames  beat  upon  it  and  caused  the  golden  rays 
to  flash  out  like  the  beams  of  the  sun.  But  as  I  looked 
I  found  no  spark  of  intelligence  darting  from  the 
pupilless  eyes ;  there  was  no  change  of  expression  -  on 
the  placid  countenance  to  indicate  that  the  ears  had 
been  touched  by  the  heart-cries  of  the  prostrate  wor- 
shippers; no  word  of  blessing  fell  from  those  silent 
lips,  immobile  and  set  as  on  the  day  when  they  received 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUI^fBUM        111 

the  last  touch  of  the  artist's  hand.     How  appropriate 
the  words  of  the  poet  of  Israel: 

"  The  idols  of  the  nations  are  silver  and  gold, 
The  work  of  men's  hands. 
They  have  mouths,  but  they  speak  not; 
Eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not; 
They  have  ears,  but  they  hear  not, 
Neither  is  there  any  breath  in  their  mouths. 
They  that  make  them  shall  be  like  unto  them; 
Yea,  every  one  that  trusteth  in  them."    (1) 

Yet  there  is  something  pathetic  in  this  spectacle  of 
heathen  worship,  and  it  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  the  part 
of  the  Christian  missionary  to  assume  an  air  of  ridicule 
and  contempt  for  the  religious  ideas  and  practices  of 
peoples  less  enlightened  than  his  own;  for  in  every 
religious  service,  however  absurd  or  degraded  from  the 
Christian  view-point,  there  is  some  feeble  acknowledg- 
ment of  and  groping  after  the  one  great  God  to  whom 
all  men  and  nations  arealike  dear;  even  in  the  worship 
of  idols  there  are  to  him  who  has  the  willing  ear  and 
the  understanding  heart  "  painful  cries  of  the  soul, 
torn  from  its  center  and  separated  from  its  object."  (2) 
The  work  of  Christian  missions  is  hindered  by  antagon- 
izing the  non-Christian  peoples  through  dogmatic  as- 
sertion of  doctrines  and  the  failure  of  the  Christian 
missionary  to  recognize  and  rejoice  in  the  great  underly- 
ing truths  of  all  religions.  Only  as  he  appreciates  the 
light,  however  dim,  that  gleams  amid  the  darkness 
and  superstition  of  the  heathen  systems,  can  he  hope  to 
turn  men's  eyes  to  Him  who  is  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness and  the  Light  of  the  World. 

I  Psalm  czzxv.       2  Vinet. 


112  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Besides  the  image  and  altar,  the  gold-tiled  temple 
contains  many  interesting  relies,  chief  among  them  be- 
ing the  stone  on  which  Tsong  K'aba  was  born.  The 
walls  are  covered  with  Buddhist  books,  and  Tchatas, 
some  of  them  fifty  feet  long,  hang  from  the  ceiling. 
Closely  connected  with  the  sanctuary  are  the  "  reading 
halls,"  one  of  them  large  enough  to  accommodate 
2,500  priests  at  one  time.  Before  entering  the  reading- 
room  each  priest  is  obliged  to  remove  his  shoes.  Some- 
times there  is  a  pile  of  shoes  at  the  entrance  compris- 
ing 2,000  pairs  or  more,  thrown  promiscuously  to- 
gether, and  yet  the  owners  seem  to  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  each  his  own  pair.  Above  the  reading-rooms 
is  the  museum,  containing  a  collection  of  sacred  relics, 
musical  instruments  (principally  big  horns  and  conch 
shells),  gold  and  silver  vases,  lamps  and  works  of  art. 
The  most  prized  among  the  relics  is  a  picture  of  Tsong 
K'aba  which  the  saint  himself  is  said  to  have  sketched 
in  his  own  blood.  This  was  done  in  the  city  of 
Lhasa  when  the  saint  was  there  pursuing  his  studies. 
His  mother  in  Amdo,  desiring  to  know  how  he  was 
faring,  he  drew  the  sketch  of  himself  and  sent  it  to  her, 
instead  of  writing  a  letter,  and  as  soon  as  she  re- 
ceived it  the  picture  spoke,  assuring  her  that  her  son 
was  in  the  best  of  health!  Another  remarkable  thing 
in  the  museum  is  a  mud  image  of  a  buddha  named 
Mete  Fuyeh,  upon  whose  muddy  head  it  is  declared 
hair  began  to  grow  soon  after  he  was  completed.  He 
is  carefully  preserved  in  a  glass  case. 

Of  the  sacred  tree  from  which  the  lamasery  takes  its 
name,  and  which  grew  up  from  the  hairs  of  Tsong 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM        113 

K'aba,  a  word  must  be  said.  There  are  three  of  these 
trees  in  a  yard  near  the  Golden  Tiled  Temple.  All  pil- 
grims visiting  the  lamasery  take  special  pains  to  pay 
reverence  to  the  central  tree,  and  to  receive  some  of  its 
leaves,  on  each  one  of  which  is  clearly  discernible  to 
the  eye  of  the  faithful  the  image  of  Tsong  K'aba.  No 
one  around  Kumbum  seemed  to  question  this  marvel 
but  the  two  foreigners.  We  frequently  visited  the  tree 
and  had  the  leaves  in  our  hands,  but  our  eyes  were 
holden  from  seeing  the  image  or  anything  approaching 
it,  a  disability  which  the  lamas  coolly  informed  us 
arose  from  the  fact  that  we  were  not  true  followers  of 
the  Buddha.  This  explanation  is  rather  damaging  to 
the  reputation  of  MM.  Hue  and  Gabet,  who  declare 
they  saw  on  the  leaves  of  the  tree,  not  images  of  Tsong 
K'aba,  but  well-formed  Tibetan  characters.  There  is 
nothing  in  Hue's  narrative  so  perplexing  as  this, 
and  without  questioning  his  veracity  one  cannot  re- 
frain from  wondering  to  what  extent  he  lell  under 
the  magic  spell  of  the  Tsong  K'aba  legends;  nor  is  it 
any  the  less  clear  why  the  leaves  which  in  Hue's  day 
bore  Tibetan  characters,  should  have  passed  on  from 
literature  to  art,  producing  now  only  images  of  the 
saint !  The  tree  has  been  variously  classified.  Eockhill, 
following  Kreitner,  first  thought  it  was  a  lilac  {Phila- 
delphus  coronarius),  but  later  he  concluded  it  was  a 
species  of  syringa  {syringa  villosa,  Vahl).  We  saw  the 
tree  once  when  it  was  in  bloom — the  flowers  are  very 
much  like  lilacs,  but  the  leaves  seem  to  be  stiffer. 

Besides  the  worship  of  Tsong  K'aba's  image,  we  wit- 
nessed many  other  weird  and  interesting  ceremonies 


114r  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

during  our  residence  in  Kumbum.  One  of  the  most 
impressive  was  that  of  "nocturnal  devotions,"  cele- 
brated periodically  by  the  lamas.  At  nightfall  the  peo- 
ple are  called  to  the  housetops  by  loud  blasts  on  a  horn 
made  of  a  large  shell  from  the  Koko-nor.  The  women 
and  children  from  Lusar  carry  bundles  of  fragrant 
wood,  which  is  burned  in  little  fire-places  arranged  for 
the  purpose  on  the  roof.  As  the  incense  of  the  burning 
wood  rises  as  a  sweet  offering  to  the  Buddha,  all  voices 
unite  in  the  chanting  of  some  unintelligible  song  or 
hymn.  On  the  roof  of  each  house  some  one  does  duty 
at  the  prayer-wheel,  sitting  down  cross-legged  and  re- 
volving it  at  the  utmost  speed,  for  it  is  believed  the 
faster  the  cylinder  turns  the  greater  the  merit  accru- 
ing to  the  worshipper.  Some  of  the  lamas  and  women 
are  busy  passing  their  rosary  through  their  fingers, 
while  other  lamas  stand  with  bowed  heads  uttering 
the  famous  six-syllabled  invocation,  "  Om  mani  padme 
hum."  From  the  first  sound  of  the  signal  horn  at 
nine  o'clock,  the  night  becomes  hideous  and  sleep  is 
out  of  the  question.  The  beating  of  gongs  and  cymbals 
and  the  ringing  of  bells  accompany  the  worship,  while 
with  these  discordant  sounds  blend  the  voices  of  a 
thousand  lamas  until  the  noise  seems  like  an  echo  from 
pandemonium.  The  whole  scene  is  illuminated  by 
thousands  of  red  paper  lanterns  suspended  on  poles, 
and  by  incense  fires  that  are  kept  fresh  by  constant 
adding  of  the  fragrant  fuel.  The  night  slowly  creeps 
away,  but  the  noise  does  not  subside.  The  untiring 
muscular  energy  of  the  devotees  who  beat  huge  gongs 
hour  after  hour,  and  the  lung  power  of  others  who 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM        115 

blow  incessantly  on  the  gigantic  horns,  is  truly  mar- 
velous. The  lamas  hold  the  ceremony  of  "  nocturnal 
devotions  "  to  be  one  of  great  merit,  and  it  is  there- 
fore participated  in  with  the  greatest  of  solemnity  and 
fervor. 

Another  imposing  ceremony,  celebrated  once  a  year 
on  the  fifteenth  of  the  first  moon,  is  "  The  Butter  God 
Festival."  For  some  days  previous  to  it  the  roads  lead- 
ing to  the  lamasery  are  literally  covered  with  travelers 
arriving  from  China,  Mongolia,  and  all  Tibetan  terri- 
tories. Some  are  mounted  on  horses,  driving  before 
them  their  heavily-burdened  yaks;  others,  of  higher 
rank,  are  borne  on  stately  camels,  with  long  retinues  of 
pedestrian  pilgrims  following  behind.  There  are  priests 
with  closely  shaven  heads  and  wooden  knapsacks  thrown 
over  their  shoulders,  and  laymen  with  long,  tattered 
sheepskin  gowns  and  short  wild-looking  hair.  As  the 
pilgrims  arrive,  the  rooms  of  the  lamasery  are  first 
occupied,  then  the  black  tents  of  the  Tibetans  begin  to 
rise  until  the  entire  valley  and  hillside  become  as  one 
vast  encampment  resounding  with  the  shouts  and 
laughter  of  men,  women  and  children,  the  whining  of 
camels,  the  neighing  of  horses  and  mules,  the  barking 
of  dogs,  the  clattering  of  gongs  and  cymbals,  the  blow- 
ing of  horns  and  the  ringing  of  bells.  On  the  main 
road  to  the  temple  are  scores  of  white  tents  of  Mongol 
and  Chinese  merchants  who  have  come  not  only  to  pay 
their  respects  to  the  Buddha,  but  to  dispose  of  their 
wares,  consisting  chiefly  of  cutlery,  needles,  cloth  boots, 
tea,  charm-boxes,  idols  and  other  articles.  The  people 
in  motley  processions  surge  toward  the  center  of  attrac- 


116  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

tion  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Golden  Tiled  Temple, 
where  in  a  pavillion  erected  as  a  temporary  shrine 
stands  the  great  butter  image  they  have  come  to  wor- 
ship. The  shrine  is  about  forty  feet  high,  twenty  feet 
long  and  twenty  feet  wide,  made  of  four  wooden  pillars 
connected  at  the  top  by  large,  painted  beams  from  which 
are  suspended  strips  of  satin  that  serve  as  walls. 
The  satin  is  beautifully  worked  in  devices  represent- 
ing the  different  forms  in  which  Shayka  Muni  ap- 
peared on  the  earth  before  his  last  incarnation,  in 
which  he  became  the  Buddha.  At  the  rear  is  a  large 
table  on  which  burn  hundreds  of  butter-lamps,  and 
above  it  rise,  layer  upon  layer,  a  series  of  butter  bas- 
reliefs  of  most  exquisite  workmanship.  The  first 
layer  represents  a  famous  temple  in  Lhasa  across  the 
doorways  of  which,  by  some  clever  machanism,  paper 
guards  are  made  to  move  to  and  fro,  and  a  huge  dragon 
with  wide  open  jaws  seems  to  crawl  from  side  to  side. 
On  the  second  layer  stands  the  giant  butter  image  of 
Buddha,  about  twenty  feet  high.  His  features,  his  cap 
and  robes  are  admirably  rendered.  He  is  represented 
as  blessing  his  people ;  his  hands  are  stretched  out  over 
them  and  his  head  slightly  bowed  down.  By  his  side 
stand  still  other  pieces  of  butter  art,  such  as  small 
reptiles,  flowers,  vegetables  and  different  kinds  of  ani- 
mals. Above  the  great  image  is  a  smaller  image  of 
Buddha,  which  represents  him  sitting  in  a  temple  re- 
ceiving the  homage  of  the  people.  His  head  moves 
mechanically  in  recognition  of  the  homage  given. 
Everything  is  beautifully  executed,  not  only  the  mould- 


THE  LAMASERY  OF  KUMBUM         117 

ing  of  the  images,  but  also  the  painting,  being  artistic 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word. 

Confronting  the  table  on  which  are  the  butter-lamps 
is  a  long,  low  bench  covered  with  red  cloth,  prepared 
for  the  lama  dignitaries  who  are  to  come  to  worship 
the  image.    These  dignitaries  are  accompanied  by  some 
half  dozen  attendants  carrying  big  red  lanterns.     On 
arriving  in  front  of  the  butter  god  the  attendants  bow 
down  to  the  ground,  put  their  hands  to  their  foreheads 
three  times  and  utter  the  prayer  "  Om  mani  padme 
hum,"  while  their  master  kneels  on  the  red  covered 
bench,  offering  some  sticks  of  incense  to  the  greasy 
deity.     The  ordinary  rank  and  file  are  not  allowed  to 
kneel  on  the  bench  in  offering  their  devotions;  they 
must  be  content  with  the  bare  ground.     At  a  certain 
stage  in  the  proceedings  there  is  a  great  commotion,  as 
the  heh-ho-shang,  or  black  lamas,  who  are  the  police- 
men of  Kumbum,  push  through  the  crowd,  cracking 
their  big  whips  in  order  to  clear  the  way  for  the  great- 
est  dignitary   of   all,   who   is   coming  to   inspect   the 
images.     It  is  the  great  "  god-man,"  the  incarnation 
of  Tsong  K'aba.     The  heh-ho-shang    head  the  proces- 
sion; after  them  follows  a  lama  of  high  rank  carrying 
a  bundle  of  burning  incense  sticks,  and  another  with 
a  pyramid  of  tsamba  decorated  with  paper  of  many 
colors,  inscribed  with  mystic  characters.    Another  lama 
follows,  holding  in  his  hand  a  sceptre  adorned  with  a 
cross  and  on  either  side  of  him  is  a  lama  bearing  a 
lighted  torch.     Next  comes  the  great  incarnation  in 
yellow  satin  robes,  holding  in  one  hand  a  sceptre  and 
in  the  other  a  beautifully  finished  rosary  of  polished 


118  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ivory.  On  his  head  is  a  high  yellow  miter  and  his  feet 
are  shod  with  velvet-topped  Chinese  boots.  With  stately 
step  he  moves  toward  the  butter  images,  but  he  is  too 
holy  to  offer  homage  to  the  Buddha  idol.  He  alone 
remains  standing  while  all  the  other  dignitaries  pros- 
trate themselves.  After  inspecting  the  images  the 
great  incarnation  returns  slowly  to  his  palace  on  the 
hillside  overlooking  the  Golden  Tiled  Temple.  His  de- 
parture is  the  signal  for  loud  jubilation.  The  multi- 
tude suddenly  leap  out  of  their  religious  mood  and 
give  themselves  over  to  boisterous  songs  and  laughter. 
They  seem  to  lose  all  control  of  themselves,  dancing 
and  yelling  like  madmen.  It  is  plain  that  the  ceremony 
is  at  an  end.  If  the  people  have  changed  so  have  the 
gods.  The  heat  of  the  hundreds  of  lamps  has  had  its 
effect  on  the  surface  of  the  images  even  though  cov- 
ered with  paint;  streams  of  grease  are  dripping  from 
the  noses  and  fingers  of  the  deities,  and  soon  nothing 
is  left  but  shapeless  masses.  In  the  early  morning 
priests  appointed  to  the  task  remove  the  remains  from 
the  boards  and  throw  them  into  the  ravine  where  the 
dogs,  wolves  and  birds  devour  them  for  breakfast. 

Of  the  origin  of  this  festival  little  can  be  said.  The 
answers  received  from  the  natives,  whom  we  asked  for 
an  explanation,  gave  us  plainly  to  understand  that  it 
was  not  generally  known.  Some  said  that  it  was  a 
feast  in  honor  of  the  great  Tsong  K'aba;  others  said 
that  it  was  a  ceremony  illustrative  of  the  unreality 
and  worthlessness  of  earthly  honor  in  a  material  body. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  moon  the  preparations 
for  the  feast  are  begun.     The  council  of  the  lamasery 


THE  LAMASEEY  OF  KUMBUM         119 

comes  together  and  selects  molders  and  places  them 
under  the  supervision  of  a  lama  of  great  fame  in  this 
art.  The  butter  is  then  collected,  and  from  that  time 
on,  until  late  in  the  last  moon,  it  is  scarce  and  dear. 
The  butter  is  brought  into  cool  places,  where  it  is 
subjected  to  a  thorough  kneading  process,  whereby  it 
becomes  more  solid.  During  this  time  of  the  year  it 
is  very  cold,  which  adds  to  making  the  butter  better 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  to  be  used,  but  also 
increases  the  suffering  of  the  artists  because  they  have 
to  put  their  hands  constantly  in  cold  water  to  lower 
their  temperature,  lest  they  should  spoil  the  features, 
newly  formed,  by  touching  them  with  their  warm  hands. 
After  the  forming  and  molding  are  finished,  the  coun- 
cil meets  again  and  appoints  the  painters.  The  mold- 
ers then  leave  their  work  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
latter.  Both  are  bent  upon  one  thing,  that  of  harvest- 
ing the  praise  of  their  superiors  and  fellow-lamas,  and 
thus  obtain  the  prize,  a  sum  of  money  given  for  the 
best  designs.  Much  has  been  written  of  the  heathen 
in  other  countries  who  worship  the  heavenly  bodies, 
animals,  images  of  clay,  wood,  stone  and  metal,  but 
the  Tibetans  with  their  monstrous  butter  buddha 
occupy  a  unique  place  in  the  world's  idolatry. 


CHAPTEE   VII 

A  BUDDHIST  SAINT 

Mina  Fuyeh's  Abode — His  Previous  Incarnations— 
Mahatmas — Conversations  on  Christianity — Jambula 
— Behind  the  Scenes. 

The  name  of  the  lamasery-dwelling  in  which  we  lived 
was  "Mina  Karwa,"  that  is,  the  palace  belonging  to 
Mina  Fuyeh.  Each  of  the  Kumbum  lamas  of  high 
rank  has  a  Tcarwa  in  which  he  entertains  his  pesing,  or 
people  from  his  district  who  come  to  visit  the  lamasery. 
During  his  abbotship  Mina  Fuyeh  dwelt  principally 
in  a  house  bearing  the  name  of  Tsong  K'aba,  the  re- 
former, and  called  also  la-rong,  or  official  residence. 
Mina  Karwa  was  surrounded  by  a  high  wall  painted 
red  and  white,  through  which  there  were  two  entrances. 
One  of  them,  large  and  very  imposing,  was  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  the  master  of  the  house,  or  some  great 
visiting  fuyeh;  the  other  was  for  ordinary  use  and  led 
through  a  smaller  courtyard.  There  were  two  large 
stone-paved  courtyards — ^the  outer  one  was  surrounded 
by  two-storied  compartments,  and  had  communication 
with  the  inner  one  by  means  of  massive  doors.  In  the 
inner  courtyard  were  the  household  temple,  the  private 
apartments  of  the  buddha  when  at  home,  and  the  three 

120 


MINA  FUYEH 


A  BUDDHIST  SAINT  121 

living-rooms  which  he  had  placed  at  our  disposal.  All 
the  apartments  were  well  built,  the  woodwork  was 
painted,  the  lattice  windows,  contrary  to  custom,  had 
glass  panes,  while  a  liberal  supply  of  the  very  best 
Chinese  furniture  gave  the  whole  interior  a  compara- 
tively luxurious  appearance.  On  one  side  of  the  build- 
ing, and  at  the  rear,  flourished  a  grassy  lawn  relieved 
by  flower  beds  in  full  bloom,  Mina  Fuyeh  being  very 
fond  of  flowers  and  quite  successful  in  cultivating  them. 
Two  or  three  large  trees  supplied  shelter  from  the 
sun's  rays,  which,  at  an  altitude  of  nine  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  are  very  strong,  especially  in  sum- 
mer time.  Before  the  Mohammedan  rebellion  of  1861- 
74  the  house  had  been  much  larger  and  more  magnifi- 
cent. There  still  remain  massive  stone  steps  lead- 
ing to  an  elevation  which  Mina  Fuyeh  pointed  out  as 
the  site  of  the  splendid  apartments  he  had  occupied  in 
his  previous  lifetime,  but  which  had  been  destroyed  by 
Mohammedan  fire  and  not  rebuilt. 

Mina  Fuyeh  was  only  twenty-seven  years  old,  yet  he 
confidently  asserted  that  he  had  lived  in  this  palatial 
abode  previous  to  the  year  1861.  He  professed  even 
to  have  vivid  recollections  of  all  that  pertained  to  his 
previous  incarnation,  and,  more  than  that,  he  could 
tell  some  things  that  were  going  to  happen  in  the 
next !  He  took  great  pleasure  in  prophesying  that  Mr. 
Eijnhart  would  in  his  next  lifetime  reappear  on  the 
earth  as  a  buddha,  as  a  reward  for  the  good  work  he 
was  doing  in  the  present  existence.  One  project  was 
dear  to  Mina  Fuyeh's  heart — it  was  that  of  restoring 
the  former  residence  to  its  original  grandeur;  but  as 


122  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

yet  he  had  never  been  quite  rich  enough  to  undertake 
it,  and  during  the  troublous  times  of  the  second  re- 
bellion he  more  than  once  congratulated  himself  that 
he  had  not  spent  any  money  in  rearing  an  edifice  that 
might  again  succumb  to  the  flames. 

During  our  stay  in  the  Karwa,  Mina  Fuyeh  came 
with  his  secretary  and  treasurer  to  perform  religious 
devotions  in  his  household  temple  during  a  period  of 
three  days.  Their  worship  consisted  mainly  in  the 
chanting  of  prayers  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  jin- 
gling of  bells,  and  the  beating  of  little  drums  made  of 
skins  stretched  over  human  skulls.  When  they  had 
chanted  themselves  hoarse  they  swallowed  copious 
quantities  of  tea,  and  then  came  into  our  apartments, 
seeming  to  enjoy  the  respite  from  the  dull  routine  as 
keenly  as  school  children  enjoy  recess.  During  such 
intermittent  visits  much  time  was  spent  in  conversation 
on  Christianity  and  Buddhism,  subjects  of  which  Mina 
Fuyeh  never  seemed  to  tire.  Soon  after  we  had  made 
his  acquaintance  Mr.  Eijnhart  had  given  him  copies  of 
the  Christian  Gospels  in  the  Tibetan  character,  among 
them  a  copy  of  St.  John,  which  he  prized  very  highly. 
He  had  a  marvelous  memory,  and  was  soon  almost  as 
familiar  with  the  text  of  the  Gospels  as  we  ourselves, 
and  was  able  quite  intelligently  to  discuss  the  various 
incidents  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  quoting  passages  with 
astonishing  accuracy  and  appositeness.  He  told  us 
that  he  believed  thoroughly  in  Jesus,  but  that  he  did 
not  see  any  reason  why  he  should  renounce  Buddhism 
and  become  a  Christian.  He  could  not  see  any  insur- 
mountable difficulties  in  accepting  both  systems,  for 


A  BUDDHIST  SAINT  123 

even  on  the  great  doctrine  of  reincarnation  with  respect 
to  which  Christianity  and  Buddhism  are  supposed  to 
stand  at  the  opposite  poles,  be  claimed  that  whereas 
the  Gospels  did  not  explicitly  teach  the  doctrine,  yet 
they  did  not  expressly  deny  it.  He  indeed  went  fur- 
ther and  declared  his  belief  that  Jesus  was  no  other 
than  a  reincarnation  of  Buddha,  and  that  Tsong  K'aba, 
the  great  Tibetan  reformer,  was  a  later  incarnation  of 
Jesus.  At  the  same  time  Mina  Fuyeh  confessed  him- 
self charmed  with  the  gospel  story.  He  told  us  there 
were  many  parallels  between  Jesus  and  Tsong  K'aba; 
that  the  latter  had  gone  about  healing  the  sick  and 
teaching  the  people  just  like  Jesus.  When  we  spoke 
of  the  crucifixion  he  said  that  Tsong  K'aba  had  been 
persecuted,  too,  and  added  that  even  to-day  in  Tibet 
it  was  not  wise  for  a  lama  to  be  "too  good."  I  be- 
lieve that,  all  unconsciously  perhaps,  Mina  Fuyeh  has 
been  the  means  of  spreading  gospel  teaching  among 
his  people  to  an  extent  that  has  as  yet  been  possible 
for  no  Christian  missionary.  With  all  the  famous 
lamas  and  pilgrims  from  the  far  interior,  even  from 
Lhasa,  as  also  from  Mongolia,  he  conversed  on  the 
subject,  telling  them  what  he  knew  about  Christian 
doctrines,  and  teaching  them  to  pronounce  for  the  first 
time  the  name  "  Yesu  Ma'shilca"  Jesus  Christ. 

The  hanpo  was  far  superior  to  the  average  lama 
in  intelligence.  He  had  been  educated,  so  he  told  us, 
in  his  former  lifetime,  in  Lhasa,  and  had  enjoyed  the 
instruction  of  a  very  wise  snowy-bearded  old  lama  at 
Kumbum;  yet  his  knowledge  was  exceedingly  limited, 
a  fact  which  he  cheerfully  admitted.     He  knew  prac- 


124  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

tically  nothing  of  the  outside  world,  had  traveled  but 
little,  and  had  an  idea  that  Pekin,  which  he  once 
visited,  lay  at  the  other  end  of  the  world.  He  ques- 
tioned Mr.  Eijnhart  by  the  hour,  carefully  noting  the 
answers,  and  marveling  at  the  white  teacher's  wonderful 
range  of  knowledge.  "When  Mr.  Eijnhart  demonstrated 
to  him  in  a  series  of  object  lessons  with  globe  and 
candle  the  rotundity  of  the  earth,  his  interest  and 
pleasure  knew  no  bounds,  for  he  had  always  believed  it 
to  be  flat.  He  studied  geography  with  all  the  aptness 
of  a  school-boy,  learning  from  an  old  atlas  given  him 
by  Mr.  Eijnhart  the  names  of  many  western  countries 
and  seas.  Frequently  he  expressed  an  ardent  longing 
to  accompany  us  to  America  or  to  Europe  if  we  should 
ever  go  home,  in  order  that  he  might  see  for  himself 
and  learn  something  of  the  world  beyond,  so  full  of 
mystery.  Of  the  occult  knowledge  of  the  hidden  things 
of  nature,  attributed  by  Theosophists  to  the  Tibetan 
priests  Mina  Fuyeh,  although  abbot  of  one  of  the 
greatest  lamaseries  in  all  Tibet  and  occupying  a  posi- 
tion of  spiritual  and  intellectual  eminence  surpassed 
only  by  the  "  Dalai  Lama "  at  Lhasa,  knew  nothing. 
He  had  never  seen  a  mahatma,  and  was  much  sur- 
prised when  we  told  him  that  western  people  believed 
such  to  exist  in  Tibet.  On  the  question  of  mahatmas 
we  made  very  careful  and  minute  inquiries  of  many 
lamas,  all  of  whom  confessed  their  ignorance  of  any 
such  beings.  There  was  no  record  or  even  legend  of 
any  having  ever  visited  Kumbum,  and  one  of  the  oldest 
priests  in  the  lamasery,  who  had  spent  years  in  Lhasa, 
told  us  he  never  heard  of  a  mahatma,  even  in  that 


A  BUDDHIST  SAINT  125 

"  City  of  Spirits/'  There  are,  it  is  true,  some  lamas  who 
profess  to  have  magical  powers  by  which  they  are  able 
to  control  the  rains  and  turn  paper  horses  into  real 
ones,  to  be  carried  by  the  winds  to  the  help  of  travelers 
overtaken  by  the  mountain  storms;  in  fact,  Ishinima, 
our  Tibetan  teacher,  once  brought  to  Mr.  Eijnhart  the 
wood-cut  from  which  these  long-ta,  or  "  wind  horses," 
are  printed,  and  allowed  him  to  make  as  many  copies  as 
he  wished  to  send  home  to  friends.  But  nothing  could  be 
further  from  the  truth  than  the  belief  entertained  by 
many  occidentals  that  the  lamas  are  superior  beings 
endowed  with  transcendent  physical  and  intellectual 
gifts.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  mere  children  in 
knowledge,  swayed  by  the  emotions  that  play  on  the 
very  surface  of  being.  During  all  our  four  years' 
sojourn  among  Tibetans  of  various  tribes  and  districts, 
we  did  not  meet  a  single  lama  who  was  conversant 
with  even  the  simple  facts  of  nature.  Mina  Fuyeh  was 
far  above  the  average,  for  the  great  mass  of  them  we 
found  to  be  ignorant,  superstitious  and  intellectually 
atrophied  like  all  other  priesthoods  that  have  never 
come  into  contact  with  the  enlightening  and  uplifting 
influence  of  Christian  education.  They  are  living  in  the 
dark  ages,  and  are  themselves  so  blind  that  they  are 
not  aware  of  the  darkness.  Ten  centuries  of  Buddhism 
have  brought  them  to  their  present  state  of  moral  and 
mental  stagnation,  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  any 
force  less  than  the  Gospel  of  Christ  can  give  them  life 
and  progress  in  the  true  sense. 

Tibetan  lamas  would  as  soon  doubt  their  present  ex- 
istence as  question  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  reincar- 


126  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

nation.  With  them  it  is  more  than  a  speculation — it 
is  a  fact,  the  basic  postulate  of  their  entire  philosophy 
of  life.  Mina  Fuyeh  spoke  with  the  utmost  assurance 
not  only  of  his  lifetime  immediately  preceding  the 
present  one,  but  of  a  score  of  incarnations  through 
which  he  had  passed  since  he  attained  sainthood,  and 
concerning  each  of  which  his  memory  stood  him  good 
service.  He  was  not  so  far  advanced,  however,  as 
Sakya  Muni,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  who,  he  assured 
us,  was  incarnated  551  times  and  could  remember  the 
510  incarnations  that  preceded  his  attainment  of  saint- 
hood as  well  as  the  forty  that  followed!  The  way 
in  which  the  Tibetans  keep  track  of  the  line  of 
successive  incarnations  is  interesting,  and  is  well 
illustrated  by  an  incident  from  Mina  Fuyeh's  own 
experience.  When  a  mere  child,  before  he  was  sent  to 
the  lamasery  to  be  trained  as  a  priest,  it  had  been 
ascertained  of  course  what  ego  or  individuality  had 
reappeared  in  his  body.  A  number  of  articles  belong- 
ing to  various  deceased  lamas  were  placed  before  him, 
and  he  was  required  to  select  those  he  had  used  in  a 
former  lifetime.  Among  the  articles  from  which  the 
selection  was  to  be  made  were  a  number  of  rosaries, 
and  as  the  young  child  chose  the  rosary  and  other  things 
that  had  belonged  to  a  former  lama  named  Mina  Fuyeh, 
his  identity  was  ungainsayably  established,  and  he  not 
only  inherited  the  name  but  also  the  property  and 
rank  which  had  been  his  in  the  previous  incarnation. 
Speaking  of  his  choice  of  rosary  he  said,  "  Why  should 
I  not  recognize  it  among  all  others,  the  one  I  had 
used  for  years?"     When  Mr.  Kijnhart  laughed  good- 


A  BUDDHIST  SAINT  127 

naturedly  at  the  hanpo's  credulity,  he  adduced  what  in 
the  minds  of  all  who  had  witnessed  the  proceedings, 
had  been  the  most  convincing  proof  of  his  former 
individuality,  as  well  as  of  his  marvelous  insight. 
When  a  number  of  horses,  some  of  them  young,  dashing 
and  well-nourished  animals,  and  others  lean  and 
decrepit,  were  brought  before  him,  he  chose  as  the  one 
belonging  to  his  former  life  the  most  dilapidated  of 
them  all.  An  ordinary  child,  it  was  held,  would  cer- 
tainly have  selected  the  most  attractive  looking  pony. 
In  conversation  with  many  lamas  we  were  given  repeated 
descriptions  of  this  ceremony  of  identification,  and 
although  MM.  Hue  and  Gabet  were  inclined  to  believe 
it  is  often  carried  on  in  good  faith,  and  that  the  myste- 
rious results  accompanying  it  are  to  be  accounted  for 
only  on  the  supposition  of  the  agency  of  Satan,  we  had 
reason  to  believe  it  is  a  piece  of  purely  human  decep- 
tion in  which  the  deceivers,  it  is  true,  are  largely  self- 
deceived.  There  are  not  a  few  of  the  more  intelligent 
laymen  who  are  sufficiently  unorthodox  to  suspect,  and 
with  reason,  that  the  young  child  before  choosing  the 
article  has  been  prompted  by  his  parents  or  by  influ- 
ential lamas  who,  for  a  consideration,  become  specially 
interested  in  his  career! 

Although  Mina  Fuyeh  was  woefully  ignorant  of 
natural  science,  we  found  him  an  accomplished 
linguist,  conversant  with  Tibetan  both  classical  and 
colloquial,  Chinese  and  Mongolian.  So  proficient  was 
he  in  the  latter  tongue  that  he  once  made  a  tour 
among  the  Eastern  ]\Iongols  somewhat  after  the  fashion 
of   a   mendicant   friar,   reading   the   Buddhist   sacred 


128  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

books  from  village  to  village,  and  from  tent  to  tent, 
and  receiving  therefor  whatever  the  people  were  pleased 
to  bestow.  Chinese  he  had  spoken  at  Pekin,  where 
he  had  also  for  the  first  time  seen  "  foreigners." 
Among  the  curios  he  had  brought  back  from  the 
Chinese  capital  was  a  collection  of  photographs  which 
he  had  taken  to  be  representations  of  Buddha,  but 
which  turned  out  to  be  mostly  photos  of  French  and 
American  actresses  arrayed  in  costume.  When  we  told 
Mina  Fuyeh  this  he  was  quite  ashamed,  and  handed  the 
same  over  to  us  to  be  disposed  of,  begging  us  not  to 
say  anything  about  it,  as  no  lama  is  supposed  to  have 
pictures  of  women  in  his  possession.  Mina  Fuyeh  was 
quite  conscientious  in  this  matter,  and  willingly  sacri- 
ficed the  entire  collection  with  the  sole  exception  of 
a  photo  of  Alexander  of  Russia. 

So  intimate  did  the  friendship  between  the  Tcanpo 
and  Mr.  Rijnhart  become  that  the  former  freely  dis- 
cussed in  our  presence  not  only  his  personal  affairs,  but 
also  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  lamasery.  Very 
few  days  passed,  especially  during  the  rebellion,  with- 
out an  interview,  the  Tcanpo  sometimes  coming  to  see 
us,  and  just  as  often  Mr.  Rijnhart  being  summoned  to 
the  official  residence.  On  such  visits  I,  as  a  rule,  ac- 
companied my  husband.  One  day  we  were  sent  for  in 
a  great  hurry  by  Hsam-tso,  the  Jcanpo's  treasurer,  and 
on  our  arrival  we  found  that  official's  countenance 
badly  disfigured  by  blows  from  the  hand  of  his  master, 
who  had  fallen  into  a  fit  of  distemper  and  lost  control 
of  himself.  The  news  of  the  Jcanpo's  illness  spread 
through  the  lamasery  and  everyone  seemed  to  fear  lest 


A  BUDDHIST  SAIXT  129 

something  serious  should  happen  him.  In  our  diag- 
nosis of  the  case  we  found  him  in  a  peculiar  condition, 
liEe  one  demented,  though  docile  as  a  child.  His  ill- 
ness had  been  caused,  we  discovered,  by  the  inordinate 
quantity  of  fruits  sent  from  Kuei-teh,  which  he  had 
eaten  that  morning.  Some  powerful  sedatives  and  a 
large  dose  of  calomel,  a  drug  we  found  particularly 
useful  among  orientals,  relieved  him  completely,  so 
that  he  was  quite  himself  the  next  day,  and  very  grate- 
ful for  his  recovery. 

Shortly  after  this  incident  I  was  stricken  with  an 
attack  of  diphtheria  which  well  nigh  proved  fatal,  and 
when  I  was  barely  convalescent  K'ai-i-tan,  our  young 
servant,  contracted  the  same  disease.  We  entreated 
him  to  remain  with  us,  offering  him  every  attention, 
but  of  no  avail.  Sick  as  he  was,  he  insisted  on  going 
home  because  his  father  had  summoned  him  to  perform 
certain  religious  duties  on  hearing  that  the  boy  had 
recently  slaughtered  a  sheep.  To  a  really  devout 
Buddhist  the  taking  of  life  is  a  sin  which  is  not  easily 
atoned  for.  K'ai-i-tan  left  for  home,  and  within  four 
days  the  carpenters  were  manufacturing  a  coffin  under 
the  roof  of  his  father's  house.  Death  had  deprived  the 
father  of  a  dutiful  son  and  us  of  a  faithful  servant,  to 
fill  whose  place  we  secured  no  one  for  a  long  time. 

Jambula,  a  Mongol  priest,  of  whom  mention  has 
already  been  made,  had  first  come  to  our  notice  by 
being  one  of  five  or  six  strong  lamas,  who  were  beat- 
ing a  little  acolyte  for  letting  fall  a  water  bucket 
which  lay  smashed  in  pieces  at  their  feet.  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart  interfered,  standing  ready  to   defend  the  little 


130  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

child  from  their  cruelty  by  more  than  words  if  need  be ; 
and,  on  account  of  this  act,  even  though  directed 
against  himself,  Jambula  had  conceived  a  great  liking 
for  my  husband.  When  we  were  without  a  servant  he 
undertook  to  help  us  in  every  way  he  could,  making 
our  tea  in  the  morning,  sweeping  our  rooms  and  finally 
helping  us  to  move  when  we  returned  to  Lusar.  Some- 
times he  would  drink  tea  with  us,  and  when  he  had 
finished  with  his  basin,  he  would  lick  it  out  with  his 
tongue  in  order  to  save  further  washing.  Needless  to 
say,  we  kept  our  eye  on  Jambula^s  basin,  and  saw 
that  it  got  a  thorough  scouring,  but  at  the  same  time 
we  would  not,  on  account  of  assthetic  sentiment,  be- 
tray any  word  of  disgust  to  wound  his  large  and  loyal 
heart. 

The  little  boy  whom  Mr.  Rijnhart  had  rescued  was  a 
Mongol  lama  who  lived  with  his  teacher  in  the  house 
that  we  occupied,  and  we  often  had  occasion  to  pity 
him,  for  the  teacher  treated  him  with  great  cruelty, 
sometimes  beating  him  severely  and  never  giving  him 
even  a  pleasant  glance.  In  common  with  other  acolytes 
of  the  same  age,  he  was  only  too  eager  to  combine  play 
and  mischief  with  his  various  tasks.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, these  boys  were  transformed  into  veritable  little 
scamps,  the  terror  of  all  whenever  their  particular 
teachers  were  out  of  sight.  The  spirit  of  mischief  is 
not  confined  to  the  very  young  lamas,  but  takes  on  a 
more  serious  aspect  when  the  older  ones  lay  aside  their 
religious  duties  and  turn  their  attention  to  other  things, 
for  even  fighting  is  not  eschewed  by  some.  One  day  a 
young  lama  came  to  invite  us  to  accompany  him  to  his 


A  BUDDHIST  SAINT  131 

home,  where  a  companion  lay  ill,  and  as  he  seemed 
anxious  to  have  no  delay,  and  Mr.  Kijnhart  could  not 
at  the  time  go  with  him,  I  went,  on  his  promising  to 
bring  me  home  again.  On  my  arrival  I  found  that  my 
patient  was  a  Mongol  lama,  who  had  been  fighting  in 
the  night  with  some  of  his  companions,  and  had  several 
large  gashes  on  his  head.  After  binding  up  his  wounds 
I  left  for  home,  mounted  on  my  mule,  which  was  led 
by  my  Tibetan  boy,  while  the  lama  walked  near  us. 
Suddenly  we  heard  excited  cries,  but  not  understanding 
the  language  well  enough  I  did  not  know  what  was 
meant,  so  paid  no  heed,  when  unexpectedly  a  stone 
thrown  by  a  priest  from  across  the  ravine  flew  past  me, 
just  missing  my  head.  My  boy,  frightened  beyond  con- 
trol, rushed  into  the  temple  to  say  his  prayers;  my 
guide  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  but  the  mule  took  me 
safely  home,  for  there  he  was  accustomed  to  be  fed. 
The  abbot  explained  afterwards,  when  Mr.  Eijnhart 
indignantly  protested  against  such  treatment,  that  no 
one  is  allowed  to  ride  through  the  monastery,  and  I 
had  broken  that  important  rule;  but  the  lama,  the 
abbot  admitted,  had  displayed  poor  manners  to  thus 
try  to  injure  me  when  I  was  innocent,  and  especially 
when  I  had  been  trying  to  relieve  suffering. 

The  matter  of  discipline  in  the  lamasery  is  a  serious 
one.  Mina  Fuyeh,  not  having  learned  the  virtue  of 
self-control,  found  it  no  easy  task  to  rule  the  four 
thousand  lamas  under  his  charge.  On  festive  occasions 
a  large  company  of  specially  appointed  lamas  arrive 
with  huge  black  whips  and  try  to  keep  order.  Peevish- 
ness and  turbulency  leading  to  acts  of  insubordination 


132  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

are  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  priests.  The 
atmosphere  of  holy  meditation  and  blissful  calm  with 
which  some  from  afar  would  fill  the  Tibetan  lamasery, 
with  its  sublime  mahatmas,  too  exalted  and  pure  to 
live  among  ordinary  men,  is  only  the  atmosphere  of 
an  uninformed  and  rose-colored  imagination.  Distance 
lends  enchantment,  but  at  the  first  contact  the  mirage 
disappears. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR 

Tankar  and  Surroundings — A  New  Opportunity— Ani 
and  Doma — The  Lhasa  Officials — Drunken  Lamas 
—Visit  of  Capt.  Wellby. 

Situated  on  the  Hsi-ho  Eiver,  about  twenty-four 
miles  northwest  of  Kumbum  and  twenty  miles  east 
of  Topa,  the  Mohammedan  stronghold,  is  Tankar  (or 
Donkyr),  a  town  of  considerable  commercial  import- 
ance, being  a  sort  of  distributing  depot  for  Chinese 
merchandise  going  into  the  interior.  Hither  come  the 
caravans  of  the  Dalai  Lama  from  Lhasa,  that  dignitary 
driving  no  small  trade  with  the  Chinese;  and,  there 
being  a  direct  route  from  Tankar  to  Lhasa,  a  large 
caravan  leaves  for  the  "  sacred  city  "  annually  in  the 
fourth  moon.  The  town  is  one  also  of  political  and 
strategical  importance.  Here  the  Sining  Amban  halts 
on  his  way  to  worship  the  Koko-nor,  or  "  Blue  Lake ; " 
here  he  also  receives  the  Mongol  princes  once  a  year 
and  distributes  presents  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor. 
Ten  miles  to  the  east  passes  a  part  of  the  great  wall  in 
which  is  a  gate  called  Kuan  men,  now  in  ruins,  but  at 
which  a  guard  of  soldiers  was  previously  stationed. 
The  town  was  once  within  Tibetan  territory,  but  gradu- 

133 


134  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ally  the  Chinese  have  encroached  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses upon  the  district  in  which  it  stands. 

Along  the  Hsi-ho  are  narrow  gorges  which  make  the 
entrance  to  the  Tankar  valley  very  difficult,  and  of 
which  during  the  rebellion,  the  Chinese  took  advantage 
to  keep  the  Mohammedans  in  check.  The  approach 
from  the  east  is  made  charming  by  a  mill  and  some 
trees  outside  the  east  gate,  with  beautiful  temples  on  the 
hills  in  the  rear.  There  is  one  principal  long  street 
lined  on  either  side  by  stores  in  which  are  to  be  found 
Chinese  wares,  goods  for  bartering  with  the  Si-fan  from 
the  Lake  district,  grain,  bread  and  foodstuffs  of  the 
Chinese.  The  yamens  opening  out  into  this  street,  a 
small  lamasery,  several  wool  depots,  houses  of  citizens 
and  of  Tibetans  from  Lhasa,  and  more  Chinese  temples, 
fill  up  the  remainder  of  the  space  within  the  wall  of 
the  town.  Through  the  latter  are  two  gates,  the  eastern 
and  western,  outside  of  which  are  suburbs,  that  without 
the  eastern  gate  being  for  the  most  part  ruins,  with 
the  exception  of  some  inns  and  shops.  Previous  to  the 
Mohammedan  rebellion  of  1861-74  ten  thousand,  mostly 
Mohammedans,  was  the  estimated  population  of  this 
suburb.  Without  the  western  gate,  every  day  are 
to  be  found  Chinese  merchants  squatted  for  some 
distance  along  both  sides  of  the  road,  with  their  small 
stock  of  goods  spread  underneath  an  awning — thread, 
beads,  bracelets,  bread  and  other  things.  These  petty 
merchants  are  patronized  by  the  poorer  classes  of  people 
whom  they  fleece  in  every  way  possible.  In  this  re- 
spect they  are  especially  severe  on  the  Tibetans.    In  the 


OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR  135 

space  between  the  outer  and  inner  gates  carpenters  and 
toolmakers  are  at  work. 

During  the  recent  rebellion,  as  already  stated,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  Mohammedan  population  left 
their  homes  and  Joined  the  rebel  forces,  while  the  re- 
maining part,  estimated  at  four  hundred,  were  peace- 
ably following  their  callings,  having  presented  them- 
selves before  the  Chinese  official  saying  they  were  loyal 
to  China.  Their  professions  of  loyalty  were  accepted 
and  peace  might  have  prevailed  were  it  not  for  a  quar- 
rel that  arose  between  a  Chinaman  and  his  Moham- 
medan wife.  The  woman  stated  that  some  night  the 
Topa  Mohammedans  would  come  to  attack  Tankar, 
and  would  give  the  signal  by  setting  fire  to  the  beauti- 
ful temples  on  the  hills  just  outside  the  town,  upon 
which  their  co-religionists  inside  were  to  rise  up  and 
open  the  gates.  The  husband  carried  his  information  to 
the  official,  and  early  the  next  morning  the  streets 
were  running  with  blood,  the  Chinese  having  fallen 
upon  and  murdered  every  Mohammedan  man,  woman 
and  child,  except  a  few  girls  who  were  wanted  as  wives 
for  Chinese  sons. 

The  Hsi-ho  itself  is  too  broad  and  tumultuous  fo 
work  the  quaint  mills,  but  small  streams  deflected  on 
either  bank  serve  that  purpose.  The  banks  are 
lined  by  willows  and  poplars  in  profusion,  and  alto- 
gether the  river  is  a  great  boon  to  the  people.  Many 
of  the  rich  merchants  from  the  city  resort  to  it  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  camping  in  sheltered  spots,  enjoy- 
ing the  freedom  of  the  country  with  its  shady  copses, 
rolling  hills,  and  its  verdant  fields  far-stretching  and 


136  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

spangled  with  flowers.  The  region  literally  teems  with 
game  of  all  kinds,  and  in  the  river  fish  abound.  The 
Chinese  being  clever  sportsmen,  and  impeded  by  no 
religious  scruples,  avail  themselves  to  the  full  of  the 
opportunity  of  stocking  their  larders  with  pheasants, 
hare,  trout  and  other  delicacies;  but  the  Tibetan 
Buddhists,  believing  that  in  every  living  animal  is  a 
soul  on  its  way  to  sainthood  and  Nirvana,  hesitate  to 
kill  the  game,  nor  can  they  be  induced  to  taste  any  of  it 
until  after  they  have  mingled  for  some  time  with  the 
Chinese  on  the  border.  It  may  be  observed,  in  passing, 
that  the  Tibetans  are  grossly  inconsistent  in  the  mat- 
ter of  taking  life,  for  while  they,  as  a  rule,  refrain  from 
killing  game,  and  have  the  most  indulgent  compassion 
on  a  louse,  yet  they  slaughter  sheep,  expose  their  chil- 
dren and  helpless  aged,  and  even  commit  murder. 
Winter  at  Tankar  is  not  so  enjoyable  as  summer,  the 
thermometer  registering  occasionally  12  degrees  below 
zero,  and  continuing  at  that  temperature  a  consider- 
able time,  except  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  when, 
owing  to  the  latitude  and  altitude,  the  sun's  rays  are 
strong.  After  a  fall  of  snow  the  natives  swarm  upon 
the  roofs  to  clear  it  off  to  avoid  leakage,  throwing  it 
over  into  the  street  below,  where  it  remains  until  it 
melts  away.  But  even  with  the  mercury  below  zero 
when  the  sun  is  bright,  sitting  out  of  doors  in  the  sun- 
shine upon  warm  rugs  is  preferable  to  being  indoors. 

The  inhabitants  are  a  motley  crowd,  ten  thousand 
in  number,  consisting  of  Chinese,  Mongols  with  their 
characteristic  face,  genial  and  good-natured,  the  women 
with  their  headdress  of  velvet  embroidered  with  col- 


OUK  EEMOVAL  TO  TANKAE  137 

ored  silks  and  set  with  silver  and  beads  worn  in  front 
instead  of  at  the  back,  the  dress  being  otherwise  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Tibetans ;  then  there  are  gorgeously- 
arrayed  Tibetans  from  Lhasa  and  the  Si-fan  Tibetans 
from  the  Lake  district,  smart  and  neat  looking  in 
comparison  with  many  other  tribes,  their  women  hav- 
ing the  heavy,  cumbersome  headdress  at  the  back  with 
shells,  bright  beads  and  pieces  of  cloth. 

For  various  reasons  it  occurred  to  us  that  it  would 
be  advantageous  to  open  a  mission  station  at  Tankar. 
Lusar,  it  is  true,  had  served  us  well  as  a  starting  point, 
and  at  Kumbum  we  had  so  thoroughly  won  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  that  we  felt  perfectly  at  home  in 
our  work.  Indeed,  the  temptation  was  to  settle  down 
in  Kumbum  and  Lusar  for  a  life  mission.  Had  we  not 
under  the  providence  of  God  overcome  all  the  prelim- 
inary difficulties  of  establishing  a  foothold?  Were  we 
not  preaching  the  gospel  to  those  who  had  never  heard 
it,  and  might  we  not  reasonably  expect  that,  continuing 
in  our  present  field,  we  should  in  due  time  see  results? 
Besides,  other  ties  bound  us:  we  had  really  come  to 
love  the  people;  our  tears  had  flowed  together,  and  we 
had  now  many  interests  in  common.  Throughout  the 
months  of  terror,  disease  and  slaughter  we  had  known 
the  fellowship  of  their  sufferings,  we  had  gone  down 
into  the  valley  with  them,  passed  under  the  cloud  with 
them — yes,  we  had  literally  been  baptized  with  their 
baptism  of  blood,  and  it  was  only  when  the  thought  of 
our  leaving  them  began  to  stir  in  our  hearts  that  we 
realized  how  close  and  tender  were  the  ties  that  bound 
us  to  them.    Then  there  was  the  yearning  to  see  them 


138  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

all  won  to  the  Saviour  and  rejoicing,  as  we  were,  in 
the  freedom  of  the  gospel  of  God's  love,  and,  had  we 
acted  merely  upon  our  own  feelings  in  the  matter,  we 
would  have  remained  at  the  great  lamasery,  instruct- 
ing the  dear  children  of  the  Bible  School,  conversing 
with  the  lamas  concerning  the  Christ,  and  amid  our 
medical  ministrations  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  poor. 
But  how  often  there  comes  to  the  Christian  the 
"  stirring  of  the  eagle's  nest !"  Abraham,  going  forth 
to  the  Promised  Land,  yet  "not  knowing  whither  he 
went,''  cannot  remain  at  Haran;  Elijah  is  summoned 
to  stern  duty  from  the  quiet  home  at  Zarapeth;  the 
Apostle  Paul,  preaching  the  gospel  in  Asia  Minor  and 
leaving  behind  him  thousands  who  heeded  not  the 
message,  sees  visions  of  larger  regions  beyond ;  and  even 
the  Master  must  leave  the  brooks  and  sunlit  slopes  of 
Judean  hills  setting  his  face  toward  Gethsemane  with 
all  its  dark,  unspeakable  agony,  and  the  awful  immola- 
tion on  the  cross.  As  I  have  already  said,  we  had  from 
the  beginning  felt  called  especially  for  itinerating  work, 
the  work  of  looking  out  new  fields  and  preparing  the 
way  for  other  laborers,  the  work  of  preparing  the  soil 
in  uncultivated  regions,  that  by  twos  and  threes,  and  in 
greater  numbers  when  God's  time  arrived,  the  sowers 
of  the  Word  might  come  to  dark  Tibet  to  scatter  the 
seed  unto  a  glorious  harvest.  The  door  was  standing 
wide  open  at  Tankar,  and  as  we  were  now  alone,  Mr. 
Ferguson  having  taken  up  other  work  in  China,  we 
felt  we  must  go  in.  After  the  rebellion  we  received 
invitations  from  many  of  its  influential  inhabitants  to 
come  up  and  open  a  medical  dispensary,  and  we  knew 


OUE  KEMOVAL  TO  TANKAK     139 

that  meant  an  opportunity  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
many  who  had  never  heard  the  name  of  Christ.  The 
people  of  Tankar  would  not  be  so  completely  under  the 
influence  of  the  lamas  as  were  those  of  Lusar,  and  thus 
we  should  perhaps  more  quickly  have  visible  results. 
Again,  the  town  lay  on  the  great  caravan  route,  travel- 
ers were  continually  leaving  for  and  arriving  from 
Lhasa,  and  who  knew  whether  by  moving  up  there  and 
making  new  friends  we  might  not  be  permitted  to 
accompany  some  expedition  to  the  interior  and  thus 
learn  more  about  the  people  to  whose  uplifting  we  had 
devoted  ourselves,  and  find  out  how  far  beyond  the 
border  and  at  what  points  missionaries  might  reside? 
Having  fully  decided,  we  bade  good-bye,  very  reluct- 
antly, to  Mina  Fuyeh,  the  abbot,  Ishinima,  our  teacher, 
and  the  many  friends  who  had  become  so  dear  to  us 
at  Kumbum,  and  set  out  for  Tankar. 

The  matter  of  securing  suitable  quarters  was  ex- 
pedited by  the  aid  extended  to  us  by  the  officials  and 
wealthy  merchants  of  the  place,  who  knew  us  well  by 
the  reputation  we  had  acquired  during  the  rebellion. 
The  house  which  we  rented  for  the  modest  sum  of 
$13  per  year,  exclusive  of  many  repairs,  was  less  pre- 
tentious than  the  one  we  had  had  at  Lusar,  but  it 
suited  us  admirably,  especially  as  it  was  situated  near 
the  western  gate  of  the  town.  At  first  we  found  it 
impossible  to  secure  any  domestic  help,  for  owing  to  the 
late  war  having  taken  for  service  so  many  of  the  good 
young  men,  and  the  wool  depots  at  Tankar  giving  em- 
ployment and  high  wages  to  many  others,  our  call  for 
a  boy  was  answered  only  by  thieves  and  opium  smok- 


140  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ers  for  many  months,  though  we  succeeded  in  securing 
the  help  of  two  women  who  were  of  inestimable  value  to 
us.  One  of  these  was  the  young  wife  of  a  gambler 
and  opium  smoker  who  had  seen  better  days;  conse- 
quently her  feet  were  very  small,  and  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  carefully  examining  them.  The  four  smaller 
toes  were  bent  and  bound  under  the  foot,  the  heel  was 
pressed  forward  and  turned  partly  underneath,  making 
the  instep  protrude  unnaturally,  yards  and  yards  of 
bandages  about  two  inches  in  width  being  used  to  bind 
them  with.  When  her  feet,  which  had  open  sores  at  the 
heels,  would  become  painful  from  use,  she  would  re- 
move the  bandages  and  try  the  soothing  effects  of  warm 
water,  replacing  the  cloth  wet,  wearing  shoes  and  all 
both  night  and  day.  During  the  time  of  binding  the 
feet  in,  when  the  girls  are  three  or  four  years  of  age, 
the  pain  is  excruciating,  and  for  two  years  the  little 
things  suffer  extremely,  but  after  the  feet  have  been, 
bound  and  compressed  the  removal  of  the  bandages 
causes  great  pain,  and  has  to  be  gradually  done,  allow- 
ing the  feet  to  expand  slowly.  There  is  a  movement  in 
China  to  do  away  with  this  barbarous  custom,  but 
though  some  influential  natives  give  it  their  support, 
many  a  year  will  elapse  before  natural  feet  are  the 
fashion  in  the  Celestial  Empire. 

The  other  woman,  by  far  the  more  valued  of  the 
two,  was  an  old  Mongolian  widow,  called  Ani,  whose 
husband  had  been  a  Lhasa  Tibetan,  and  whose  only 
child  was  a  girl  of  fourteen  years  of  age,  by  name 
Doma.  These  two  became  my  faithful  friends,  doing 
their  utmost  to  serve  me  in  every  way.    For  nearly  two 


OUE  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR    141 

years  Ani  brought  us  water  on  her  donkey,  a  wooden 
bucketful  on  each  side  of  the  saddle,  while  Doma  for 
over  a  year  acted  as  "  housemaid."  Their  home  was  in 
a  respectable-looking  courtyard  just  a  few  doors  from 
ours,  and  consisted  of  a  kitchen  and  two  rooms,  in  the 
inner  one  of  which  was  a  Tc'ang  with  cupboards  and  a 
little  altar  with  its  idols,  butter  lamps,  small  shallow 
brass  basins  and  innumerable  hhatas.  On  the  ¥ang 
was  a  liopen,  in  which  there  was  invariably  fire,  while 
a  pot  of  tea  well  seasoned  with  milk  and  salt  always 
stood  ready  on  the  iron  tripod  standing  in  the  fire. 
There  was  also  a  little  square  brightly  painted  box 
with  a  sliding  lid  that  held  tsamha.  Whenever  I  vis- 
ited Ani's  home  bread  and  butter  were  ready  waiting 
for  me  (she  had  learned  of  my  aversion  to  tsamha), 
clean  rugs  were  spread  on  the  k'ang,  and  the  tea  had 
no  salt  in  it.  Ani  always  made  profuse  apologies  for 
not  having  anything  to  offer  me,  but  the  hospitality 
was  genuine,  and  received  as  heartily  as  it  was  given. 

Tibetan  and  Mongolian  women  are  great  wine-drink- 
ers, whenever  they  have  company,  or  are  visiting,  and 
Ani  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  When  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  she  was  very  loquacious,  beating 
and  abusing  Doma  in  barbarous  fashion.  The  latter 
rather  liked  wine,  too,  for  when  she  had  the  chance  she 
would  imbibe  freely,  but  after  a  while  they  both  ab- 
stained because  I  objected  to  it.  Repeatedly,  and  with 
final  success,  I  coaxed  Ani  to  keep  Doma  away  from 
drinking  companies  and  allow  her  to  follow  the  natural 
girlish  instinct  of  purity  I  felt  she  possessed.  To  my 
exhortations    Ani    would     reply    in    great    sincerity. 


142  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

"What  a  pity  it  is  that  poor  women  in  our  land  are 
not  respected  as  in  yours;  here  they  are  not  expected 
by  parents  or  any  one  else  to  lead  what  you  call  moral 
lives."  Alas,  poor  Ani's  words  tell  only  too  truly  the 
sad  story  of  Tibetan  women's  lives.  So  far  as  we 
were  able  to  observe,  morality  among  them  was  an 
accident  rather  than  a  rule,  this  statement  applying  to 
all  classes,  married  or  single.  Though  at  times  there  is 
affection  between  husband  and  wife,  fidelity  is  not  at  all 
deemed  an  essential  quality  of  womanhood,  and  when 
a  man  goes  away  from  home  he  is  just  as  liable  to  bring 
another  wife  home  with  him  as  not.  This  occurred  in 
a  house  not  far  from  us,  where  a  man  and  his  wife  had 
lived  comfortably  and  agreeably  together  for  years. 
Suddenly,  on  his  return  from  Sining,  he  brought  an- 
other very  young  wife  with  him.  The  first  wife  was 
angry,  and  treated  the  poor  young  woman  with  such 
cruelty  that  the  latter  committed  suicide  by  taking  a 
large  dose  of  opium.  Her  parents  then  demanded  in- 
demnity from  the  husband  for  the  loss  of  their  child, 
and  the  home  became  one  of  misery.  The  entire  social 
system,  and  especially  the  domestic  relationship  of 
the  Tibetans,  needs  purifying. 

Doma  was  a  very  bright  girl,  speaking  fluently  Mon- 
golian, Chinese  and  Lhasa  Tibetan,  and  as  she  gave  us 
lessons  in  Mongolian,  we  found  that  she  possessed 
great  latent  ability,  having  a  good  memory  and 
sharp  insight.  Every  small  particle  of  cloth  and 
any  of  our  cast-off  clothes  were  greatly  appreciated 
by  her,  and  afterwards  when  we  had  our  Tibetan  ser- 
vant Kahim,  who  came  in  for  a  share,  she  was  quite 


OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR    143 

jealous,  proving  how  easily  spoiled  the  natives  are.  Had 
we  stayed  long  in  Tankar  and  Rahim  remained  with  us, 
he  and  Doma  would  probably  have  been  married,  for  it 
had  been  discussed  by  him  and  Ani,  and  I  often  think 
that  he  may  yet  some  day  from  his  far-away  home  in 
Ladak  find  his  way  again  north  of  the  Kuenluns  and 
settle  down  at  Tankar  as  the  old  woman's  son-in-law, 
for  Doma  possessed  great  charms  for  him.  But  these 
are  dreams,  idle  dreams. 

A  visit  with  Ani  to  the  home  of  a  Mongol  woman 
married  to  a  wealthy  Lhasa  Tibetan  was  quite  an  event 
to  me,  for  she  was  the  most  respected  native  woman  in 
Tankar  with  the  exception  of  the  wife  of  the  highest 
Chinese  official.  Her  little  daughter,  thirteen  years 
old,  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  a  young  boy  aged 
eleven,  son  of  the  Mongol  Prince  of  the  Koko-nor,  and 
this  boy  was  living  in  his  betrothed's  home  where  he 
and  the  little  girl  studied  the  Chinese  character,  played, 
ate  and  slept  together,  the  girl  always  obeyed  and  re- 
spected by  the  boy,  conspicuous  wherever  he  went  in 
his  yellow  silk  clothing.  The  rooms  in  this  home  were 
luxuriously  furnished  with  carved  and  highly  polished 
cupboards,  tables  and  chairs  of  Chinese  make,  beauti- 
ful rugs,  many  brightly  shining  brass  fixtures,  fresh 
white  and  colored  paper  on  the  lattice  windows,  all 
indicating  wealth  and  a  certain  degree  of  cleanliness 
and  aesthetic  taste.  Her  husband,  politely  called 
Tsun  bo,  was  a  large,  well-built  and  well-dressed  man, 
who  looked  as  if  he  partook  too  freely  of  chang,  an 
alcoholic  beverage  which  he  made  in  his  home  and  sold 
in  large  quantities  to  the  Tibetans.     As  the  appoint- 


144  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ments  in  this  house  were  of  the  highest  order,  the  re- 
freshments that  were  offered  to  guests  were  of  good 
quality,  notably  the  tea,  which  was  the  real  churned 
tea,  the  kind  most  favored  by  all  Tibetans  from  the 
interior.  It  is  made  from  brick  tea,  boiled  for  five 
minutes  or  longer  in  salted  water;  the  liquid  is  then 
strained  into  a  churn  in  which  butter  and  tsamba  have 
been  put,  and  the  whole  churned  up  together  by  some 
peculiar  twists  of  the  churndash.  It  looks  like  choco- 
late, but  it  does  not  taste  in  the  slightest  degree  the 
same,  especially  when  the  butter  is  tainted,  as  it  very 
frequently  is. 

Among  the  most  interesting  personages  we  met  at 
Tankar  were  the  four  huslioh,  or  representatives  of  the 
Dalai  Lama.  These  are  lamas  specially  sent  from 
Lhasa  to  look  after  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
great  potentate,  and  at  the  same  time  they  are  em- 
powered to  act  in  a  semi-official  capacity  in  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  commerce  of  the  Tcopas,  or  Lhasa 
Tibetans,  many  of  whom  trade  at  Tankar.  Every  year 
the  large  trade  caravans  sent  by  the  Dalai  Lama  to 
Pekin  pass  through  Tankar  and  are  superintended  by 
the  Tcushok.  Dr.  Sven  Hedin  has  fallen  into  the  error 
of  confounding  these  trade  caravans  with  the  tribute- 
mission  which  the  Dalai  Lama  sends  the  Chinese  Em- 
peror once  every  three  years.  The  tribute-mission 
formerly  traveled  over  the  Ts'aidam-Tankar  road,  but 
ever  since  the  Mohammedan  rebellion  of  1861-74,  by 
order  of  the  Emperor,  it  has  gone  by  way  of  Ta-chien- 
lu,  although  the  Tibetans  have  frequently  petitioned 
to  be  allowed  to  send  it  by  the  former  route  because  it 


OUE  EEMOVAL  TO  TANKAR    145 

is  much  easier  to  travel  on,  though  now  not  so  safe, 
owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country.  By  way 
of  Ta-chien-lu  come  also  the  trade  caravans  of  the 
great  TrashiFunpo  Lama,  who  dwells  in  the  monastery 
at  Shigatsze  near  Lhasa,  and  who  is  reverenced  by 
many  Tibetan  tribes  and  some  Mongols  to  a  greater 
degree  even  than  the  Dalai  Lama.  Though  both  the 
spiritual  lords  of  Tibet  engage  in  mundane  traffic,  they 
do  it  with  mutual  respect,  and  with  no  thought  of  com- 
petition, the  one  not  infringing  on  the  territory  of  the 
other. 

The  four  Jcushoh  have  large  establishments  in 
Tankar,  houses  gorgeously  painted  and  beautifully  fur- 
nished, where  they  sometimes  spend  many  months  on 
their  way  from  Lhasa  to  Pekin.  Having  experienced 
the  difficulties  of  travel  between  Lhasa  and  Tankar, 
they  are  not  anxious  to  repeat  that  portion  of  the  jour- 
ney, and  so,  frequently,  on  returning  from  the  Chinese 
capital,  they  send  the  proceeds  of  their  enterprise  on  to 
Lhasa  in  the  care  of  trusty  stewards  and  await  the 
return  of  the  latter  with  a  fresh  caravan  of  trade  sup- 
plies. Thus  every  year  one  caravan  departs  for,  and 
another  arrives  from,  both  Pekin  and  Lhasa.  The 
principal  one  of  these  four  agents  was  Shar-je-ja-ba, 
while  the  fourth  in  rank  was  Karpon  Losang  Kindum, 
Icarpon  being  a  title  given  to  responsible  agents  who 
have  complete  control  of  all  their  master's  merchan- 
dise. We  knew  both  of  them  well.  The  former  was 
a  large,  corpulent  lama  with  a  round,  fat  face,  a 
small  tumor  on  his  forehead,  while  across  his  head  was 
a  scar  several  inches  in  length,  the  result  of  a  wound 


146  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

dealt  him  by  robbers  some  years  previous.  He  was 
dressed  in  yellow  and  red  brocaded  silk  garments,  with 
a  small  circular  hat  that  looked  like  a  cap  of  gold,  so 
bright  it  was.  Two  of  his  front  teeth  were  missing, 
and  so  much  anxiety  did  he  display  to  have  them  re- 
placed that  at  his  earnest  solicitation  Mr.  Rijnhart, 
by  means  of  a  steel  file,  made  him  two  from  the  ivory 
handle  of  a  tooth  brush,  and  fastened  them  in  place 
by  a  silver  wire  attached  to  them  through  holes,  and 
then  bound  around  the  other  teeth.  No  one  in  this 
land  of  scientific  dentistry  could  be  better  pleased  with 
the  most  perfect  crown  tooth  than  was  that  Tibetan 
kushoTc  with  his  two  crudely-wrought  ones,  which  were, 
it  must  be  confessed,  more  ornamental  than  useful. 

Losang  Kindum,  dressed  mostly  in  red  silks  and 
satins,  was  of  slight  build,  tall  and  straight,  with  a 
good-natured,  though  cynical  expression  on  his  face. 
He,  too,  had  had  experience  with  robbers,  for  the  year 
we  arrived  in  Kumbum  he  had  lost  a  whole  caravan, 
and,  knowing  the  people  who  had  attacked  him,  he 
was  endeavoring  to  obtain  restitution  through  the 
Amban. 

Both  Shar-je-ja-ba  and  Losang  Kindum  were  exceed- 
ingly friendly,  inviting  us  frequently  to  their  sumptu- 
ous quarters  and  visiting  us  just  as  often  in  our  own 
home.  Once  when  our  old  friend  Mina  Fuyeh,  now 
no  longer  abbot  of  Kumbum,  had  come  up  to  spend  a 
few  days  with  us,  Shar-je-ja-ba  invited  the  latter  and 
Mr,  Rijnhart,  together  with  a  number  of  noted 
officials,  to  a  feast.  The  occasion  was  so  great  as  to 
receive  the  official  recognition  of  the  Amban,  who  sent 


OUR  EEMOVAL  TO  TANKAE  147 

tablets  of  honorary  inscriptions  in  gold  letters  -to  be 
placed  over  the  door  of  the  courtyard.  When  all  the 
ordinary  lamas  and  Icopas  were  seated  on  rugs  under 
awnings  in  the  courtyard,  and  the  guests  of  honor 
were  on  the  Jc'angs  in  the  rooms,  wine  and  tea  were 
served  in  profusion,  with  viands  that  would  be  most 
relished  according  as  the  guests  were  Chinese  or  Tibe- 
tan in  their  appetites.  Mina  Fuyeh,  another  living 
buddha,  Mr.  Rijnhart,  a  wealthy  Chinaman,  and 
Losang  Kindum  sat  on  one  k'ang  and  had  a  very  en- 
joyable time  together  which  almost  became  unpleasant 
through  a  joke,  which  only  the  latter  enjoyed.  Though 
he  was  a  lama,  he  was  an  inordinate  wine-drinker,  while 
his  three  guest-companions  on  the  h'ang  limited  them- 
selves to  tea,  and  probably  from  a  sense  of  impropriety 
of  his  so  freely  imbibing,  or  a  wish  to  be  jovial  and 
hospitable,  he  asked  Mr.  Rijnhart  to  have  some.  Not  re- 
ceiving the  expected  acquiescence,  when  the  little  basin 
covered  with  a  silver  lid,  from  which  my  husband  drank 
his  tea,  was  sent  to  be  refilled,  Losang  Kindum  whis- 
pered something  to  the  servant.  When  the  cup  was 
returned  Mr.  Rijnhart  found  that  it  contained  wine, 
whereupon  Mina  Fuyeh  was  greatly  incensed  and  in- 
formed Shar-je-ja-ba  of  the  trick.  The  only  com- 
pensation the  genial  host  could  offer  was  to  give  the 
poor  servant  a  beating  for  lack  of  civility,  when  really 
Losang  Kindum  was  to  blame.  When  asked  for  a  rea- 
son for  the  indignity  he  had  heaped  upon  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart, Losang  Kindum  replied  that  he  had  simply  sup- 
posed Mr.  Rijnhart  to  be  like  the  ordinary  Tibetan 
lama,  who  refuses  to  drink  only  until  the  first  drop 


148  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

has  passed  his  lips  as  a  result  of  persuasion,  and  is 
then  ready  to  do  his  share.  The  drunken  habits  of 
some  lamas  are  shocking.  No  fair  or  festival  takes 
place  without  fights  and  disorderly  conduct  caused  by 
alcoholic  beverages.  I  do  not  say  that  all  lamas  drink, 
but  to  say  that  the  majority  of  them  are  not  only  ad- 
dicted to  drink  but  also  to  gluttony  is  not  at  all  wide 
of  the  truth,  and  this  despite  the  teachings  of  Buddha 
on  temperance  and  self-control.  The  ethereal,  abstemi- 
ous, vegetarian  Buddhist  lama  is  a  pure  figment.  I 
have  seen  a  lama  devour  several  pounds  of  meat  at 
one  sitting. 

Entertainment  is  carried  on  in  a  sumptuous  manner 
by  these  wealthy  Tibetans,  and  at  times  no  expense  is 
spared  for  their  own  pleasure  or  that  of  their  friends. 
They  have  at  various  seasons  of  the  year  what  may  be 
called  theatricals  for  the  want  of  a  better  name,  and 
invitations  are  issued  to  special  friends,  while  any 
others  who  wish  to  see  may  take  up  positions  on  the 
roof  from  which  they  can  look  into  the  courtyard  below. 
We  had  the  privilege  of  attending  one  of  these  per- 
formances, which  we  found  interesting  for  the  time 
that  we  remained.  The  performers  were  all  men,  some 
of  whom,  however,  personated  women,  and  were  dressed 
in  cloth  gowns  with  richly  embroidered  jackets,  having 
their  hair  ornamented  by  corals  and  green  stones,  and 
square  cloth  veils  over  their  faces.  The  play  consisted 
of  the  representation  of  a  reception  by  a  great  poten- 
tate of  embassies  from  different  nations.  The  po- 
tentate was  some  holy  man,  a  great  lama  seated  on  a 
throne.      The    first    to    be    presented    is    the    Chinese 


OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR  149 

embassy,  headed  by  a  gorgeously  arrayed  mandarin 
with  feather  and  button,  and  followed  by  a  retinue  of 
minor  officials.  He  presents  his  Tchata  to  the  po- 
tentate with  elaborate  ceremony,  but  to  the  apparently 
great  chagrin  of  the  Chinamen  and  to  the  amusement 
of  the  spectators,  the  Tchata  is  returned  and  the  great 
mandarin  fails  to  win  favor.  Then  appear  K'a-ches, 
men  with  long  white  beards,  dressed  in  white  plaited 
skirts  and  turbans,  one  of  them  with  bent  form  per- 
sonating an  elephant  with  a  white  sheet  thrown  over 
him.  Next  follow  Hindustani  Mohammedans  in  their 
dark  red  gowns  and  turbans,  calling  aloud  as  they  en- 
ter in  an  attitude  of  worship  "Allah!  Allah!"  The 
Mohammedan  embassies  share  the  same  fate  as  the 
Chinese  one,  all  their  khatas  being  rejected;  but  the 
climax  is  complete  when  a  well-dressed  young  prince 
of  a  royal  Tibetan  house  presents  his  Mata  and  is 
graciously  received  by  the  big  man  amid  much  rejoic- 
ing. The  entire  representation  was  accompanied  by 
much  singing  and  dancing,  the  latter  consisting  now 
of  a  slow,  dignified  step,  now  of  a  vigorous  swinging  of 
the  body  until  the  rope  ends  attached  to  the  girdle 
stood  out  perpendicular  to  the  waist  and  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  rapidly  revolving  wheel.  A  drum  beaten 
at  intervals  controlled  the  players,  who  at  times  danced 
forward  to  drink  wine  from  a  basin  on  the  rim  of  which 
were  three  little  pyramids  of  butter.  With  the  other 
guests  we  were  served  refreshments,  such  as  tea,  de- 
licious bread,  and  Tibetan  soup,  made  of  finely  chopped 
meat,  onions  and  rice  reduced  to  pulp,  a  very  appetiz- 
ing and  digestible  food.     Though  the  entertainment 


150  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

was  not  by  any  means  ended,  we  did  not  feel  that  after 
the  first  little  while  our  time  would  be  well  spent,  so 
left  the  natives  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  play. 

The  visit  of  Mina  Fuyeh  to  our  home  in  Tankar 
was  full  of  interest.  How  many  hours  we  spent  talk- 
ing over  the  harrowing  experience  through  which  we  all 
had  passed  during  the  rebellion.  We  also  reviewed 
the  happy  days  we  had  passed  together  in  Kumbum  and 
renewed  our  discussions  about  Christianity  and 
Buddhism.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  fact  that, 
though  Mina  Fuyeh  had  been  much  touched  by  the 
gospel  story,  and  though  he  had  long  ago  come  to  the 
point  of  expressing  his  admiration  for  Christ  and 
Christian  teaching,  he  showed  no  signs  of  willingness 
to  openly  renounce  his  ancestral  faith;  he  was  still  a 
Buddhist  by  profession.  We  had  done  our  best  to  en- 
lighten him.  We  had  taught  him  with  the  most  dili- 
gent and  conscientious  care;  we  had  prayed  over  him, 
and  sought  by  the  example  of  our  daily  walk  to  open  his 
eyes  to  the  beauty  and  joyousness  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  therefore  strange  thoughts  passed  through  our 
minds  as,  during  that  visit,  we  saw  the  people  come 
to  him  with  khatas  and  gifts,  prostrate  themselves  be- 
fore him,  worship  him  as  a  god  and  wait  to  receive  his 
blessing.  To  the  missionary  who  works  only  for  visi- 
ble results  there  are  certainly  many  disappointments 
on  the  foreign  field,  and  during  the  long  pioneer  days, 
the  days  of  waiting  and  of  sowing  seed,  only  the  con- 
sciousness that  one  is  doing  his  duty  and  obeying  the 
great  Lord  of  the  Harvest  can  keep  the  heart  full  of 
peace  and  full  of  faith  as  to  the  ultimate   results. 


OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR     151 

How  difficult  it  was  to  realize  that  our  visitor  with 
whom  we  sat  and  conversed  was  a  man  of  such  influ- 
ence, purity  and  power  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  as  to  be 
adored  like  a  god,  for,  according  to  our  standard,  he 
was  ignorant  and  materialistic  to  a  degree. 

Mina  Fuyeh  was  accompanied  by  his  little  disciple, 
a  boy  of  about  ten  years  of  age,  whom  we  had  known  at 
Kumbum.  He  was  lively  as  a  cricket,  and  many  a 
prank  did  he  play  upon  us  and  his  exalted  master. 
Thinking  his  appearance  might  be  improved  by  a  good 
wash,  I  provided  him  with  the  essentials  and  gave  him 
full  instructions;  whereupon  he  very  carefully  gave  his 
hands,  anns,  face  and  neck  a  scrubbing  with  plenty  of 
hot  water  and  soap,  and  there  was  such  a  transforma- 
tion that  he  was  really  good-looking.  Having  gone 
across  the  courtyard  to  another  room  for  a  time,  I 
was  amazed  on  my  return  to  see  him  at  the  kitchen 
door,  his  face  shining  with  something  more  oily  than 
smiles,  and,  upon  questioning  him,  found  that,  feeling 
uncomfortable,  he  had  smeared  the  washed  parts  with 
butter,  a  cosmetic  that  every  Tibetan  uses  freely. 

In  connection  with  our  regular  medical  and  preach- 
ing work  at  Tankar,  we  sometimes  went  on  short  jour- 
neys into  the  surrounding  districts — the  beginnings  of 
more  extensive  pioneer  work  to  which  we  were  looking 
forward.  In  October  of  1896,  on  our  return  from  a 
trip  to  the  grass  countr}',  we  were  met  at  the  gate  by 
a  messenger  who  informed  us  that  a  foreigner  had 
arrived  in  the  suburbs  and  was  staying  at  an  inn.  Mr. 
Rijnhart  at  once  rode  off  to  inquire  who  the  unexpected 
stranger  might  be,  and,  as  a  visit  from  European  or 


152  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

American  travelers  is  so  rare  in  this  distant  frontier 
town,  he  had  decided  beforehand  to  invite  him  to  our 
home.  I  therefore  made  all  haste  to  get  the  house  in 
order,  and  had  not  finished  when  Mr.  Eijnhart  returned, 
followed  into  the  courtyard  by  an  English  gentleman 
dressed  in  a  tweed  suit  with  sheepskin  epaulettes,  bear- 
ing the  marks  of  exposure.  What  a  thrill  of  delight 
when  we  exchanged  greetings  in  good  old  Anglo- 
Saxon  !  The  stranger  proved  to  be  Capt.  M.  S.  Wellby, 
of  the  18th  Hussars,  who  had  made  a  journey  from 
India,  through  Ladak  and  Northern  Tibet. 

He  had  been  traveling  for  nearly  seven  months,  and 
had  encountered  many  difficulties.  It  had  been  his  in- 
tention to  penetrate  into  Inner  Tibet  from  Ladak 
through  Rudok,  but  arriving  at  the  latter  place  was 
prevented  from  proceeding  further  by  a  large  body  of 
Tibetan  soldiers  stationed  there  to  guard  the  Lhasa 
road.  He  was  then  obliged  to  turn  northeastward  in  a 
sort  of  zig-zag  course  and  spend  many  weeks  in  barren, 
uninhabited  country.  His  provisions  had  given  out, 
many  of  his  animals  died,  and  his  men  mutinied  and 
deserted  him,  so  that  all  that  remained  of  the  caravan 
when  it  reached  Tankar  was  Captain  Wellby  himself, 
Lieutenant  Malcolm  and  Duffadar  Shahzad  Mir,  his 
compagnons  de  voyage,  his  muleteer  and  two  body- 
servants  with  one  load  of  effects.  The  journey  across 
Northern  Tibet,  though  disastrous  in  many  respects, 
had  not  been  fruitless.  Valuable  observations  had  been 
made  on  the  way,  and  geographical  science  enriched  by 
the  discovery  of  the  source  of  the  Chumar  river.  We 
shall  let  Captain  Wellby  in  his  own  words  describe  Mr. 


OUR  REMOVAL  TO  TANKAR     163 

Rijnhart's  arrival  in  the  inn  and  what  followed :  "  I 
could  hardly  make  up  my  mind  whether  he  was  a 
European  or  a  Chinaman,  and  when  he  addressed  me 
in  a  mixture  of  French  and  Chinese  I  was  still  more 
mystified,  so  to  simplify  matters  I  replied,  '  I'm  an 
Englishman,'  and  held  my  hand  out  to  him.  He 
eagerly  seized  it,  and  gave  me  the  heartiest  shake  I 
had  received  for  many  a  long  day,  and  I  felt  thankful 
that  we  had  found  a  European  and  a  friend  anxious 
to  help  us  in  this  out  of  the  way  place.  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart,  for  that  was  his  name,  was  a  Dutch  missionary, 
and  had  only  taken  up  his  abode  in  Tankar  within  the 
last  three  months.  *  *  *  in  another  moment  we 
were  trotting  through  the  street  in  single  file,  chatting 
all  the  while,  when,  suddenly  turning  to  the  left,  we 
very  shortly  afterwards  drew  up  at  Rijnhart's  little 
house.  One  step  up  out  of  the  narrow  lane  landed  us 
in  an  open  courtyard,  where  his  kind-hearted  wife, 
Dr.  Rijnhart,  was  waiting  to  welcome  us,  as  well  as 
Mr.  Hall,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  who  had  come 
over  to  Tankar  from  Sining  and  had  only  just  returned 
with  the  Rijnharts  from  making  a  trip  to  the  Koko-nor. 
Great  honor  was  shown  to  me  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese 
by  allotting  to  my  use  the  room  that  faced  the  en- 
trance. The  Rijnharts,  when  by  themselves,  lived  in 
Chinese  fashion,  and  were  on  the  most  friendly  terms 
with  all  the  Chinese  and  Tibetan  officials  in  the  town, 
and  we  ourselves  were  treated  with  courtesy  and 
civility."* 

Captain  Wellb/s  visit  was  of  short  duration,  lasting 

•  Through  Unknown  Tibet,  by  Capt.  M.  S.  Wellby,  pp.  a6i-a. 


154  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

only  one  day.  In  the  afternoon  we  had  a  call  from  the 
princess  of  the  Koko-nor,  which  served  to  add  interest 
to  the  occasion.  Next  day,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart,  the  party  set  out  for  a  visit  to  the  Kumbura 
lamasery,t  and  thence  to  Sining  and  Lancheo. 
Meanwhile,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  travelers, 
and  further  because  some  arrangements  about  our 
mails  and  other  business  at  the  coast  required  adjust- 
ing previous  to  the  great  journey  we  were  contemplat- 
ing to  the  interior,  Mr.  Kijnhart  agreed  to  accompany 
them  to  Pekin,  acting  as  interpreter,  a  service  of  which 
Captain  "Wellby  has  made  the  most  courteous  and 
copious  acknowledgment.^ 


t  "  Very  lucky  we  are  to  be  able  to  pay  this  visit  under  the  guidance  of 
Mr.  Rijnhart,  for  not  only  has  he  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  mon- 
astery than  any  other  living  man,  but  having  made  his  home  for  two  years 
in  Lusar,  ten  months  of  which  were  spent  in  the  monastery  itself,  he  has 
made  friends  with  a  very  large  number  of  its  inmates,  more  especially 
with  Mina  Fuyeh,  one  of  the  greatest  incarnate  saints  in  the  place."  Op. 
Cit.  p.  270. 

i  Op.  Cit.  pp.  267-411. 

N^.  B.—l  have  since  learned  with  great  regret  of  the  death  of  Capt. 
Wellby  from  wounds  received  in  the  late  South  African  war. 


CHAPTER   IX 

DISTINGUISHED   VISITORS. 

Mr.  Rijnhart's  Absence — Our  House  is  Robbed — Visit 
of  Dr.  Sven  Hedin — Tsanga  Fuyeh — Medical  Work 
Among  Nomads — Birth  of  Our  Little  Son. 

Mr.  Rijnhart  conducted  Captain  Wellby's  party  to 
Pekin,  from  there  went  overland  to  Hankow  with  a 
German  traveler,  made  new  arrangements  for  our 
mails  and  supplies,  and  returned  to  Tankar  with  all 
possible  speed.  During  his  absence  the  natives  be- 
stowed on  me  the  greatest  kindnesses,  and  I  felt  per- 
fectly safe  with  them.  The  women  especially  did  all 
in  their  power  to  entertain  me,  inviting  me  to  their 
houses  and  bringing  me  gifts,  thus  enabling  me  to 
get  acquainted  with  them  in  the  most  intimate  way. 
They  seemed  to  feel  they  had  me  under  their  protection, 
and  vied  with  each  other  in  bestowing  upon  me  the 
most  considerate  attention  of  which  they  were  capable. 
Here,  too,  was  a  golden  chance  to  speak  to  them  of 
Christ  and  of  all  that  His  religion  had  done  for  women 
in  other  lands,  and  of  what  it  could  do  for  them.  Du- 
ring these  memorable  weeks  I  learned  to  understand  and 
sympathize  with  the  heathen  women  as  never  before. 
Besides,  I  was  kept  busy  with  my  medical  work,  and 

155 


166  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  constant  arrival  of  visitors  from  far  and  near  who 
had  heard  of  the  foreign  teachers  and  came  to  see  for 
themselves,  compensated  largely  for  any  feelings  of 
loneliness  I  may  have  had,  and  made  monotony  and 
ennui  impossible. 

Christmastime  I  spent  with  Mrs.  Kidley  at  Sining, 
and  while  I  was  away  poor  Ani,  whom  I  had  left  in 
charge  of  the  house,  had  a  trying  experience.  A  thief, 
knowing  probably  that  we  were  away,  broke  into  our 
house  and  made  off  with  our  stock  of  money  and  many 
others  of  our  valuable  possessions,  besides  destroying 
photographic  plates  by  exposing  them  to  the  light,  and 
emptying  many  vials  of  precious  chemicals  upon  the 
ground.  By  the  aid  of  the  dog  Ani  located  the  culprit 
crouching  in  a  room  off  the  stable,  and  upon  demanding 
an  explanation  of  his  presence,  found  herself  suddenly 
engaged  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle,  at  the  end  of 
which  she  was  left  lying  in  a  pit  near  the  stable,  while 
her  adversary  made  his  escape.  Undaunted,  the  faith- 
ful Ani  gathered  herself  up  as  soon  as  possible  and  ran 
through  the  streets  crying  "  stop  thief !"  But  no  one 
would  stop  him,  or  tell  her  who  he  was,  although  it 
transpired  that  nearly  everyone  knew  him;  but  Tibetan 
politeness  forbids  anyone  to  give  information  that 
would  convict  another  of  theft.  As  soon  as  I  returned 
from  Sining  I  immediately  notified  the  yamen  of  the 
outrage.  Some  underlings  came  around  to  tell  Ani 
that  if  they  did  not  catch  the  thief  she  would  be  held 
responsible  and  be  dragged  before  the  yamen,  as  it  was 
her  fault  that  the  iang-ta-ren,  "  foreign  gentleman's," 
house  had  been  robbed.    Many  a  weary  week  was  spent 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITOES  157 

before  Ani's  character  was  cleared  by  the  catching  of 
the  real  thief.  I  shall  not  forget  the  kindness  of  the 
official  and  his  wife  at  this  time  when  I  had  to  visit 
the  yamen,  for  they  admitted  me  to  their  own  room, 
where,  contrary  to  the  general  custom  in  China,  they 
dined  alone  together.  Mina  Fuyeh,  hearing  that  we 
had  been  robbed,  sent  his  treasurer  over  from  Kumbum 
with  a  hhata  to  offer  me  any  amount  of  money  I  might 
need,  and  to  invite  me  to  return  to  the  lamasery  to 
live,  where  I  would  be  among  "friends."  Losang 
Kindum  (one  of  the  Dalai  Lama's  husliolc)  also  sent 
me  several  strings  of  cash,  and  offered  me  as  many 
more  as  I  wanted,  saying  that  Chinese  officials  were 
not  always  to  be  depended  upon,  but  that  the  Tibetans 
were  big-hearted  and  meant  what  they  said.  Having 
full  confidence,  however,  in  my  friends  at  Tankar, 
I  did  not  yield  to  Mina  Fuyeh's  persuasion. 

After  the  visit  of  Captain  Wellby  we  had  concluded 
it  would  be  a  long  time  ere  we  would  again  be  visited 
by  a  European  traveler,  but  this  rare  treat  was  in  store 
for  us  sooner  than  we  expected.  One  calm,  bright  No- 
vember Monday  the  sun  shone  warmly  upon  Ani  and 
myself  as  we  sat  on  our  rugs  in  the  courtyard  enjoying 
some  pien-shi,  for  I  had  invited  her  to  come  and  have 
dinner  with  me.  A  knock  at  the  entrance  was  answered 
by  the  old  woman,  who  at  once  called  me,  and  I  found 
upon  my  arrival  that  the  doorway  was  full  of  men, 
some  of  whom  were  Mongols  and  some,  yamen  people. 
One  of  the  latter,  acting  as  spokesman,  told  me  that  a 
foreigner  was  just  outside  the  west  gate,  and  was  com- 
ing to  our  home  to  be  entertained.    Upon  questioning 


168  WITH  THE  TIBETA:t^S 

him  closely  I  elicited  the  information  that  the  for- 
eigner was  on  his  way  out  of  Tibet;  that  he  had  sent 
word  to  the  yamen  to  find  lodging,  fodder  and  firewood 
for  him  and  his  caravan,  and  that  knowing  we  had 
entertained  Captain  Wellby  and  Lieutenant  Malcolm, 
the  official  had  directed  the  foreign  men  to  pro- 
ceed to  our  home,  all  of  which  was  said  with 
the  mannerisms  peculiar  to  messengers  from  the 
yamen.  It  did  not  seem  possible  that  another 
explorer  could  have  so  quickly  come  after  Captain 
Wellby,  and  I  feared  it  was  the  men  whom  the 
latter  had  left  in  Tibet;  and  feeling  thus,  I  replied 
that  the  official  must  provide  entertainment  for  them 
himself,  that  Mr.  Eijnhart  was  away  from  home.  The 
Mongols  had  in  the  meantime  been  telling  Ani  what  a 
great  man  the  approaching  foreigner  was,  an  amhan 
they  said,  and  had  so  enlisted  her  sympathies  that  she 
prevailed  upon  me  to  reconsider  my  decision,  so  I  said, 
"  Surely,  if  this  is  an  amhan  who  is  coming  he  must 
have  passports  and  other  papers,"  whereupon  the  Mon- 
gols said  he  had  sent  them  with  one  of  his  men,  who 
was  forthwith  called.  He  had  been  standing  aside  in 
the  street  and  now  came  forward,  a  large  man  with  a 
long  black  beard  and  a  ver}'  foreign  look,  who,  I  at 
once  concluded,  was  a  Mohammedan  from  India  or 
Kashgar;  had  he  presented  the  papers  at  the  be- 
ginning, such  a  long  consultation  would  have  been 
avoided.  I  looked  at  the  papers  he  handed  me  and  read 
in  French  the  fact  that  Sven  Hedin,  Ph.D.,  was  on  a 
tour  of  scientific  exploration  in  Central  Asia,  or  some- 
thing to  that  effect,  and  at  once  told  the  men  that  he 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS  159 

was  to  be  guided  to  our  home,  and  added  we  would 
look  after  his  entertainment. 

In  a  very  short  time  the  caravan  of  the  great  Swedish 
traveler  arrived  at  the  door,  and  in  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Eijnhart  I  went  at  once  to  welcome  and  extend  to  him 
the  hospitality  of  our  little  home.  Knowing  that  he 
was  a  Swede  I  felt  I  must  learn  at  once  in  what  lan- 
guage we  were  to  converse,  so  I  asked  him  if  he  spoke 
English,  and  upon  his  reply  in  the  affirmative,  we  were 
not  at  a  loss  to  find  topics  that  interested  us  both.  Ani 
was  delighted  that  he  could  speak  Mongolian,  and 
called  him  amhan  and  personally  welcomed  him  to 
Tankar.  He  had  a  large  number  of  men  in  his  caravan, 
some  of  whom  took  up  quarters  in  our  drug  room,  while 
the  remainder  with  the  horses  went  to  an  inn.  Dr. 
Hedin  had  heard  of  us  before  his  arrival.  At  Bayin- 
hoshum,  not  far  beyond  the  Khara  Kottel,  or  Black 
Pass,  a  Tangut  chief  had  told  him  there  was  a  solitary 
Oruss  or  "  Russian  "  lady  at  Tankar.  "  Russian  "  is 
the  only  name  by  which  all  Europeans  are  known  in 
Northern  Tibet.  In  his  great  work  "  Through  Asia  " 
Dr.  Hedin  has  given  the  following  account  of  his  recep- 
tion and  visit  at  our  humble  home. 

"  Earlier  in  the  day  I  had  sent  Parpi  Bai  on  in  ad- 
vance to  take  my  pass  to  the  governor  of  the  town. 
That  dignitary  now  met  us  at  the  gate,  bringing  us  a 
letter  from  the  '  Russian  lady '  with  a  hearty  invita- 
tion to  share  her  hospitality.  I  felt  it  was  rather  pre- 
sumptuous to  quarter  myself  altogether  upon  a  solitary 
lady.  Nevertheless  I  decided,  perhaps  it  was  curiosity 
drove  me,  at  any  rate  to  go  and  pay  her  a  visit.    When 


160  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

I  reached  the  house  indicated,  a  good  Chinese  house 
with  an  oblong  courtyard,  I  was  met  by  a  bareheaded 
young  lady  wearing  spectacles  and  dressed  after  the 
Chinese  manner.  She  asked  me  in  a  friendly  tone, 
'  Do  you  speak  English  ? '  I  told  her  yes,  I  thought 
so,  and  very  soon  our  tongues  were  going  at  express 
speed.  She  introduced  herself  as  Mrs.  Eheinhard 
(Rijnhart)  an  American  doctor  of  medicine.  Her  hus- 
band was  the  Dutch  missionary,  Mr.  Eheinhard,  who 
fully  a  month  earlier  had  started  for  Peking  with  Capt. 
Wellby,  who  was  on  his  way  home  from  his  journey 
across  Tibet.  Mrs.  Eheinhard  was  the  personification 
of  hospitality  and  amiability.  It  was  quite  a  pleasure 
to  talk  to  somebody  whose  interests  ranged  beyond 
grass  and  pastures,  dangerous  passes,  wild  yaks,  cattle 
and  sheep.  Her  husband's  courage  in  venturing  to 
leave  her  behind  alone  among  the  rabble  of  Tankar 
truly  astonished  me.  But  there  was  not  so  much  dan- 
ger, perhaps,  after  all;  for  through  her  medical  knowl- 
edge and  skill  Mrs.  Eheinhard  had  won  several  friends 
among  the  native  population.'^* 

The  Chinese  officials  in  Eastern  Turkestan  had 
shown  him  marked  courtesy,  and  he  had  expected  the 
same  from  those  in  the  towns  of  Western  China,  but 
found  it  altogether  lacking,  I  believe,  because  the  Mon- 
gols who  announced  his  arrival  had  called  him  amban, 
while  his  passport  was  almost  the  same  as  a  mission- 
ary's; the  official  was  quick  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  Capt.  Wellby  had  a  much  better  passport  than 


•  "Through  Asia,"  by  Sven  Hedin,  2  Vols.,  Harper  &  Bros.,  Vol,  II.,  pp. 
X156-7. 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITOES  161 

Dr.  Hedin,  though  the  latter  was  entitled  to  one  of 
higher  rank,  seeing  that  King  Oscar  was  personally  in- 
terested in  the  expedition.  Instead  of  coming  to  call 
on  the  traveler,  the  official  ignored  his  presence  in 
Tankar  and  Dr.  Hedin  went  himself  to  call  on  the 
ting,  but  there  were  no  big  guns  fired  in  his  honor  as 
there  had  been  in  Turkestan. 

The  Kopas  were  anxious  to  learn  how  near  he  had 
been  to  Lhasa,  so  Losang  Kindum  came  around  with 
his  prayer-wheel  in  one  hand,  to  ask  particulars,  and 
as  a  result  Dr.  Hedin  visited  him  in  the  evening,  to  buy 
some  curios,  cloth,  boots,  etc.,  of  which  the  JcushoJcs 
have  such  large  quantities,  selling  them  as  they  do  for 
the  Dalai  Lama.  In  Dr.  Hedin's  book  "  Through  Asia  " 
he  speaks  of  this  transaction  as  his  buying  some  of  the 
goods  intended  for  tribute,  and  that  the  Emperor  would 
that  time  receive  less  than  had  been  intended  for  him. 
The  goods  did  belong  perhaps  to  the  Dalai  Lama,  but 
were  for  trade,  not  for  presentation  to  the  Emperor  as 
tribute,  and  it  is  possible  that  those  particular  articles 
belonged  to  Losang  Kindum  himself,  for  even  a  servant 
coming  from  Lhasa  does  on  his  own  account  a  little 
trade,  and  the  profits  of  that  deal  were  boasted  of  by 
the  kushoJc  for  a  long  time  afterwards. 

Having  a  desire  to  see  Kumbum,  Dr.  Hedin  stayed 
only  a  short  time  in  Tankar  and  upon  his  departure  I 
sent  my  servant  with  him,  with  instructions  to  visit 
Mina  Fuyeh,  present  him  a  Ichata  and  say  that  Dr. 
Hedin  wished  to  visit  the  temples,  and  that  any  kind- 
nGss  he  showed  him  would  be  appreciated.  Just  before 
his  departure  two  runners  from  the  yamen  came  and 


162  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

offered  their  services,  but  Dr.  Hedin  was  indignant  and 
sent  word  through  them  to  their  official  that  he  had  a 
good  revolver  which  he  had  intended  to  give  him,  but  he 
would  not  do  so,  and  he  would  moreover  report  to  Pekin 
his  lack  of  courtesy  to  him,  a  stranger  in  Tankar.  The 
men  kotowed,  went  away,  but  soon  returned.  As  the 
caravan  was  leaving  our  gate.  Dr.  Hedin  told  his  treas- 
urer to  give  Ani  four  hundred  cash.  The  old  woman 
was  delighted;  it  is  certain  she  will  never  forget  the 
great  white  amban,  and  if  her  wishes  for  prosperity  and 
peace  were  of  any  avail  surely  he  must  have  had  a 
charmed  life  ever  since.  If  on  his  return  to  the 
Ts'aidam  last  year  he  passed  through  Tankar,  as  he 
most  probably  would,  Ani,  if  she  heard  of  his  coming, 
did  not  fail,  I  am  sure,  to  give  him  a  hearty  welcome. 

My  next  visitor,  quite  as  distinguished  in  his  way, 
was  a  lama,  73  years  of  age,  a  "  living  buddha  "  named 
Tsanga  Fuyeh.  Having  read  the  Gospels  of  Mark  and 
John  which  we  had  given  a  young  friend  of  his,  he  de- 
sired, he  said,  to  see  the  people  from  whom  the  books 
had  come.  He  was,  as  far  as  we  could  afterwards  learn, 
a  pure  living  man,  and  he  looked  it.  Inviting  him  with 
great  ceremony  to  take  his  place  upon  the  Ic'ang  in 
the  guest-room,  I  gave  him  tea,  bread,  tsamha  and 
butter.  He  had  evidently  made  up  his  mind  that  we 
foreign  teachers  were  different  from  ordinary  beings, 
for  he  was  as  much  surprised  as  delighted  when  he 
found  we  would  eat  Tibetan  meat  and  butter,  and  made 
us  a  present  of  a  leg  of  mutton  and  some  pears,  accom- 
panied by  a  Icliata,  promising  to  supplement  these  gifts 
by  some  sheep's  butter  when  he  returned  to  his  people, 


DISTrnGUISHED  VISITOES  163 

and  he  kept  his  promise.  The  old  buddha  was  much 
interested  in  our  medical  skill,  asked  for  some  eye  medi- 
cine for  himself,  and  inquired  about  our  ability  to  help 
a  relative  who  had  a  tumor.  A  month  or  so  later  when 
Mr.  Eijnhart  had  returned,  the  "  relative,"  a  rather 
young  woman,  came  in,  accompanied  by  her  husband. 
Instead  of  a  tumor,  we  found  the  patient  suffering 
from  abdominal  dropsy,  and  were  able  to  relieve  her  im- 
mediately by  tapping.  She  and  her  husband  rented  a 
room,  the  only  one  they  could  procure,  about  eight  feet 
square,  with  no  window;  and  the  woman  lay  on  the 
Jc'ang,  with  a  pack  saddle  for  a  pillow,  as  contented  as 
possible.  Her  husband  was  one  of  those  cheery,  good 
natured  men  one  does  not  often  see  the  like  of.  He 
brought  us  presents,  imitated  our  English,  made  friends 
with  Topsy,  the  door-keeper,  to  such  an  extent  that 
she  would  let  him  out  without  any  remarks  of  disap- 
proval, but  he  could  not  induce  her  to  let  him  in  with- 
out some  member  of  the  household  restraining  her.  On 
the  whole,  he  enjoyed  us  just  as  much  as  we  did  him 
and  perhaps  a  little  more,  seeing  that  we  were  a  trifle 
cleaner  than  he  was.  Among  these  Tibetans  there  is 
a  peculiar  custom  we  only  learned  after  close  contact 
with  them.  When  anyone  is  ill  one  of  the  members  of 
the  family  goes  to  a  lama,  gives  him  a  Tcliata,  tells  him 
about  the  sick  one,  and  asks  him  what  mamba  is  to  be 
consulted.  The  lama  accepts  the  Ichata,  throws  dice, 
to  indicate  a  certain  page  in  a  sacred  book  which 
is  turned  up,  whereupon  the  name  of  the  mamha  is 
announced.  Tsanga  Fuyeh  was  the  lama  to  whom  they 
went  for  this  knowledge,  and  after  his  relative  was 


164  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

cured  by  tapping,  he  would  send  every  one  to  us  for 
treatment.  We  had  never  suspected  that  our  names 
were  recorded  in  the  sacred  books  of  Buddhism  ! 

The  news  of  this  woman's  cure  spread  far  westward 
among  the  Koko-nor  Tibetans,  and  Tsanga  Fuyeh  did 
not  cease  to  sound  our  praises.  As  a  result  people  came 
in  from  distances  requiring  twenty  days  on  horseback. 
This  much  was  amusing:  anyone  who  had  a  pain  of 
any  kind  in  the  region  of  the  stomach  wanted  to  be 
"tapped,"  for  the  Tibetans  reason  that  what  is  good 
for  one  sick  person  is  equally  good  for  another  !  I 
had  also  to  be  specially  careful  to  give  explicit  directions 
about  taking  medicine,  as  another  of  their  maxims  was 
"  if  a  little  medicine  is  good,  a  large  quantity  must  be 
so  much  better,"  and  they  would  swallow  a  whole  bot- 
tle of  liquid  or  box  of  pills  at  a  single  dose.  Frequently 
also  they  ate  the  papers  in  which  the  powders  were 
wrapped,  thinking  that  if  the  medicine  inside  the  papers 
was  good,  there  certainly  also  must  be  some  virtue  in 
the  paper.  The  visit  of  Tsanga  Fuyeh  and  the  noto- 
riety it  gave  us  among  the  nomads  of  the  grass  country 
prepared  the  way,  as  will  be  seen,  for  further  trips 
into  the  grass  country,  and  later  into  the  great  beyond. 

Mr.  Eijnhart's  return  from  the  journey  to  Pekin 
was  hailed  by  the  natives  with  delight,  especially  by 
the  kopas,  who  came  to  bid  him  welcome  home,  bringing 
a  khata  and  large  pieces  of  meat,  sometimes  as  much 
as  half  a  sheep.  Shortly  after  his  return  the  question 
of  servants  was  settled,  for  we  secured  the  services  of 
Mohammed  Eahim,  the  third  of  Capt.  Wellby's  men 
that   had   reached   Tankar   in   safety.     He   had   been 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS  165 

away  in  the  grass  country  herding  flocks  and  cat- 
tle, so  that  when  Dr.  Sven  Hedin  appeared,  he  missed 
being  taken  on  with  his  men  and  so  found  himself  alone 
in  Tankar.  He  came  to  us  and  a  very  valuable  serv- 
ant he  proved  to  be,  with  the  fault  of  a  hasty  temper 
which  occasionally  would  get  him  into  trouble. 

We  had  in  the  center  of  our  courtyard  a  square  flower 
garden,  where  we  coaxed  some  native  flowers  resem- 
bling yellow  poppies,  marigolds  and  asters  to  bloom  with 
our  own  violets,  nasturtiums  and  sweet  peas,  which 
gave  our  home  a  delightful  whiff  of  old-fashioned  far 
away  gardens  in  the  homeland;  many  a  time  we  would 
sit  on  the  little  stone  fence  about  the  flowers,  and,  look- 
ing down  into  the  depths  of  the  blossoms,  see  pictured 
there  faces  of  loved  ones  far  away,  made  happier  by 
sunny,  bright  letters  from  the  Tibetan  border.  The 
blooming  of  each  new  flower  was  for  us  a  visitor,  each 
bringing  its  quota  of  interest  and  cheer.  When  the 
first  dark  velvety  nasturtium  bloomed  there  came  to 
our  home  another  blossom,  who  brought  with  him  a 
budget  of  love  and  a  stock  of  sunshine  which  will  re- 
main always,  but  now  only  in  memory — dear  little 
Charles  Carson  Rijnhart,  who  came  to  us  on  June  30th, 
1897.  Ani  had  anticipated  the  event  with  a  large 
amount  of  talk  and  wonderment  at  the  preparations 
I  was  making.  She  told  me  that  among  the  nomads 
the  mother's  only  bed  is  one  made  of  the  powdered 
excreta  of  sheep,  and  that  when  the  weather  is  warm 
the  little  one  is  pasted  with  butter  and  put  out  to 
bask  in  the  sun.  If  medical  science  is  needed,  none  is 
to  be  had,  nature  alone  is  to  be  depended  upon ;  and  yet 


166  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

everyone  is  satisfied,  as  no  one  has  learned  that  in  other 
countries  things  are  different.  When  the  tub  of  warm 
water  was  brought  in  daily  for  the  bath  and  baby  was 
put  into  it,  Ani  and  Doma  looked  upon  it  all  as  an  act 
of  almost  certain  insanity,  though  Mrs.  Eidley,  who  was 
of  such  inestimable  help  to  us,  had  been  doing  the  same 
thing  for  her  two  dear  little  children  and  no  harm 
had  resulted.  The  natives  do  not  allow  a  stranger  to 
approach  the  mother  until  forty  days  after  the  birth 
of  a  child,  owing  to  some  superstition ;  and  the  mother 
goes  out  one  hundred  days  after  it,  so  that  everyone  was 
amazed  to  see  us  about  the  middle  of  August,  going 
horseback  on  a  journey  to  the  south  of  the  Koko-nor. 

Mohammed  Rahim,  henceforth  to  be  known  as  Rahim, 
was  baby's  delight,  and  Doma  was  not  at  all  pleased  that 
she  was  not  looked  on  with  as  much  favor  as  the  dark- 
faced  boy,  who  would  walk  up  and  down  the  courtyard 
carrying  the  precious  burden,  singing  weird  Hindustani 
and  Ladaki  airs,  and  even  the  British  bugle  call  which 
he  had  learned  in  India,  There  is  such  a  difference  be- 
tween Tibetan  and  white  children,  the  former  having 
apparently  scarcely  any  nerve  tissue  and  showing  so 
little  interest  and  vivacity,  and  though  baby  was  only 
an  ordinary  child,  he  was  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives  a 
great  curiosity;  they  considered  him  exceeding 
smart  to  "  notice  things,"  and  in  comparison  to  theirs 
he  certainly  was.  The  twenty  days  among  the  nomads 
in  August,  to  be  described  in  the  next  chapter,  were 
very  enjoyable  and  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
natives  who  came  into  contact  with  us.  They  would 
come  in  on  tiptoe  with  their  tongues  protruding,  to 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS  16T 

stand  and  gaze  upon  Charles  asleep  in  his  hammock 
swinging  between  the  tent  poles,  and  hold  up  both 
thumbs  and  put  the  tongue  out  still  further  if  possible, 
as  a  token  of  approbation.  When  his  bath  time  came 
and  the  tent  door  was  closed  on  account  of  the  draught, 
the  women  and  men  too  would  run  to  our  tent,  pick 
up  the  flap  around  the  bottom  and  the  whole  aperture 
would  be  filled  with  dark  faces  and  laughing  black  eyes, 
while  they  watched  the  performance  interesting  to  them 
and  enjoyable  to  Charles.  Such  remarks  as  the  follow- 
ing were  common :  "  White  child,"  "  See  her  put 
him  into  the  water,''  "  He  will  die,"  and  "  Why  does  she 
not  paste  him  with  butter  and  put  him  out  in  the  sun  ?  " 
Tibetan  children  living  in  the  tents  are  experts  at  rid- 
ing, jumping  on  the  backs  of  horses  and  even  cows 
and  running  down  hill  at  full  speed.  They  are  in 
sunny  warm  weather  to  be  seen  playing  about  the  tents 
with  only  a  string  of  something  that  serves  as  a  charm 
around  the  neck,  with  perhaps  a  tiny  bell,  added  to  the 
covering  nature  herself  gave  them.  Their  lives  are  des- 
titute of  pleasures,  for  they  have  no  playthings,  no 
candy,  fruit,  or  cake,  which  children  in  this  land  and 
even  in  China  have  in  such  abundance.  They  are  not 
loved  and  cuddled  the  way  children  are  in  the  home- 
land, and  oftentimes  the  calves  and  fawns  tied  to  the 
post  in  the  tent  receive  more  attention  than  the  bairnies. 
Shortly  after  we  were  settled  in  Tankar  Mr.  Eijn- 
hart  went  down  to  Sining  and  had  his  bicycle  brought 
up  the  mountainous  road.  As  riding  from  Sining  to 
Tankar  was  impossible,  it  was  necessary  for  a  man  to 


168  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

carry  it  on  his  back.  This  wonderful  "  one  man  cart " 
(the  literal  translation  of  the  name  the  natives  gave  it) 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  people,  and  though  very 
much  interested  in  its  mechanism  not  one  of  them  could 
ever  be  induced  to  mount.  As  far  as  real  use  in  travel- 
ing was  concerned  it  was  nil,  but  Tibetans  came  in 
large  numbers  wanting  to  see  it,  and  we  were  glad  to 
have  such  a  powerful  magnet  attracting  the  people  to 
us  almost  daily,  thus  enlarging  the  circle  of  our 
acquaintance  and  usefulness.  To  satisfy  them  Mr. 
Eijnhart  gave  exhibitions.  Crowds  of  people  came  to 
witness  the  "  foreign  teacher "  ride  on  "  the  one  man 
cart."  The  great  difficulty  was  to  keep  the  men  and 
boys  from  following  too  closely,  as  if  any  accident  should 
happen,  the  rider  was  in  danger  of  being  tramped  upon 
by  the  multitude  behind.  Outside  the  east  gate  was  a 
decline,  and  they  never  ceased  commenting  upon  the 
speed  with  which  the  bicycle  would  "  run  "  down  that 
hill  "  faster  than  the  best  horse."  My  sewing  machine 
also  attracted  its  share  of  attention  and  was  called  the 
"  iron  tailor,"  one  woman  even  going  so  far  as  to  come 
to  inquire  if  it  were  true  that  when  I  finished  sew- 
ing I  carried  him  to  the  kitchen,  put  him  on  the  table 
and  he  made  food  for  us?  Poor  Tibetan  women  and 
often  men  would  give  me  a  small  piece  of  cloth  and  ask 
me  to  make  it  into  a  bag,  that  they  might  take  it  home 
to  show  their  mothers  what  wonderful  sewing  it  did. 
By  degrees  we  had  won  as  many  friends  in  Tankar  as 
in  Kumbum  and  Lusar,  besides  we  had  gathered  a 
fund  of  information  about  the  nomads  of  the  grass 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS  169 

country.  Our  name  and  work  were  known  among  them 
many  days'  journey  west  and  south,  and  the  Scriptures 
we  had  given  away  to  visitors  were  being  read  in  dis- 
tricts to  which  we  never  yet  had  gone. 


CHAPTER  X 

AMONG   THE   TANGUTS   OF   THE   KOKO-NOR 

Tangut  Customs — Journey  to  the  Koko-nor — ISTomadic 
Tent-Life — A  Glimpse  of  the  Blue  Lake — Robbers — 
Distributing  Gospels. 

Never  since  our  memorable  attempt  to  reach  the 
Koko-nor  under  the  guidance  of  Ishinima,  had  we  given 
up  the  project  of  visiting  that  wondrous  lake,  not  merely 
because  of  the  pleasure  we  anticipated  at  gazing  again 
on  an  extensive  body  af  water,  but  rather  to  spy  out  the 
country,  get  better  acquainted  with  the  nomads  in  their 
temporary  settlements,  distribute  copies  of  the  Gospels, 
preach  the  doctrine,  and  ascertain  the  prospects  and 
possibilities  of  future  missionary  work  among  them. 
These  nomads,  called  Tanguts,  or  Koko-nor  Tibetans, 
who  frequently  visited  us  at  Tankar,  talked  about  the 
lake  continually  and  supplied  us  with  minute  informa- 
tion as  to  the  nature  of  the  country  through  which  we 
should  pass.  We  had  become  so  well  acquainted  with 
the  Tanguts  that,  although  we  knew  most  of  them  were 
robbers,  we  lost  all  fear  of  them.  Their  costume  con- 
sists of  the  ordinary  sheepskin  gown  worn  with  the 
woolly  side  next  the  body,  high  top-boots  and  some- 
times a  hat  with  a  peaked  crown  surmounted  by  a  red 

170 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOE     171 

tassel,  and  the  brim  lined  with  white  lambskin.  The 
men  have  hanging  from  their  girdles  their  flint  and 
tinder,  knife-case,  powder-horn,  and,  stuck  through 
the  girdle  from  right  to  left  is  a  sword  encased  in  a 
sheath  made  sometimes  of  wood,  but  often  of  metal 
inlaid  with  silver  and  stones.  When  they  are  traveling 
they  seldom  take  their  hand  ofl:  the  hilt  of  the  sword. 
Many  of  them  carry  also  guns  and  spears.  All  the 
smaller  baggage,  such  as  the  drinking-bowl,  snuff-box, 
money,  weighing-scales,  etc.,  is  carried  inside  the  blouse. 
The  women  could  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  the 
men  except  for  the  headdress.  The  hair,  thoroughly 
greased,  is  braided  into  fifty  or  more  small  plaits  which 
are  bound  together  at  the  back  with  wide  strips  of 
cloth  covered  with  shells  and  beads,  the  whole  weighing 
several  pounds,  extending  below  the  waist  and  dangling 
at  every  step.  The  fashion  of  dressing  the  hair  among 
the  men  varies  in  different  localities.  Some  have  the 
Chinese  queue,  others  have  the  front  hair  trimmed 
into  butter-smeared  fringes  and  bangs,  while  that  from 
the  back  of  the  head  flies  in  the  wind;  others  have  the 
hair,  augmented  by  silk  or  cotton  coils,  wound  round 
the  head  and  adorned  with  rings,  corals  and  other 
stones;  still  others  have  their  heads  utterly  unkempt. 
The  women's  gowns,  like  the  men's,  are  held  by  girdles 
from  which  hang  knives,  needle-cases  and  other  append- 
ages. Both  men  and  women  wear  a  charm-box  around 
the  neck,  containing  a  small  idol,  pieces  of  old  cloth 
and  small  parcels  of  medicine.  The  women  always  wear 
large  earrings  in  both  ears,  and  as  many  rings  on  their 


172  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

fingers  as  they  can  procure.  The  men  wear  an  earring 
generally  in  the  left  ear  only. 

As  the  fur  garments  are  worn  by  the  Tanguts  for 
years  and  bathing  is  unknown,  the  odor  of  their  bodies 
is  decidedly  disagreeable;  in  my  medical  capacity  I 
have  had  to  come  into  such  close  contact  with  the 
Tibetan  women  as  to  feel  positively  nauseated  by  the 
smell,  and  the  liberal  supply  of  vermin  that  sometimes 
would  be  on  my  wrist  after  feeling  a  patient's  pulse. 
They  seem  to  suffer  no  discomfort  on  account  of  the 
vermin.  They  have  no  desire  to  exterminate  them;  to 
kill  a  louse,  in  fact,  is  regarded  as  a  sin  against  the 
teachings  of  Buddha,  and  they  rarely  do  kill  them  ex- 
cept to  eat  them.  That  I  have  seen  them  do,  picking 
them  not  only  from  their  own  bodies  but  from  others'. 

A  visit  from  a  party  of  these  Tangut  Tibetans  at 
Tankar  we  always  regarded  of  great  moment,  taking  the 
time  of  every  one  in  the  household,  some  to  talk  to  them, 
others  to  doctor  the  sick  ones,  as  invariably  some  of 
them  wanted  medicine ;  and  nearly  always  we  gave  them 
some  of  their  much-relished  brick  tea.  A  call  of  aro 
at  the  door,  a  rush  to  hold  the  doorkeeper,  our  dog 
Topsy,  a  quick  entrance  of  several  people  with  their 
rustling  leather  gowns,  heavy  boots,  clanging  swords, 
knives  and  women's  headdress  announce  their  coming. 
Then  there  are  holding  out  of  hands,  the  profuse  salu- 
tations with  cries  of  dimo-dimo-ing,  the  presentation 
of  the  hliata,  or  perhaps  a  sheep's  stomach  full  of  sweet 
milk,  or  a  piece  of  butter  drawn  from  the  depth  of  a 
dirty  skin  bag,  with  hands  that  leave  black  marks  wher- 
ever they  touch,  and  some  churmaj  all  given  with  lib- 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOR     1T3 

erality  and  genuine  good  feeling,  and  accepted  with 
the  greatest  grace  and  thankfulness,  because  we  knew 
that  it  was  the  best  they  could  give,  and  their  hearts 
came  with  the  gifts.  The  boy  in  the  meantime  is  busy 
in  the  kitchen  preparing  a  huge  pot  of  tea,  and  some 
basins  are  filled,  and  much  smacking  of  lips  and  chit- 
ter-chatter  shows  the  genuine  enjoyment  with  which  it 
is  partaken  of.  If  there  is  a  man  of  any  social  standing 
among  them  he  is  invited  into  the  best  room,  the  one 
farthest  from  the  entrance,  and  entertained  there.  If 
they  are  ordinary  people  they  are  entertained  in  the 
courtyard  with  rugs  spread  on  the  floor,  or  in  the  drug- 
room. 

The  particular  journey  into  the  Tangut  country  of 
which  I  now  write  was  one  we  made  at  the  invitation  of  a 
panaka,  who  requested  us  to  go  and  operate  on  the 
eyes  of  his  aged  father  afilicted  with  cataract.  The 
panaJca  provided  us  with  animals  to  carry  our  supplies, 
which  consisted  of  a  tent,  rugs  for  bedding,  two  iron 
pots,  and  a  wooden  basin  for  each  of  us,  a  pair  of  goat- 
skin bellows,  besides  drugs  and  copies  of  the  Gospels 
for  distribution.  For  food  we  took  plenty  of  dried 
doughstrings,  a  bag  of  roasted  barley  meal,  butter, 
cliurma,  a  half  brick  of  tea,  and  some  hard  baked  bread. 
Bread  taken  on  a  journey  in  this  compact  form  has  the 
advantage  of  being  always  very  palatable,  and  of  re- 
maining good  for  months  if  made  well. 

Although  little  Charles  was  only  forty-two  days  old 
it  was  decided  that  I  should  accompany  the  expedition, 
and  the  12th  of  August,  a  lucky  day  in  the  estimation 
of  the  natives,  was  fixed  for  our  departure.     Early  in 


174  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  morning  the  panaka  came  to  our  gate  with  two 
fine  yak  and  it  was  not  long  until  we  joined  the  caravan, 
which  consisted  altogether  of  nine  yak  and  one  horse, 
laden  with  stores,  and  five  ponies  with  their  riders,  our 
panaka,  a  medical  lama,  and  his  Chinese  bookkeeper, 
Eahim  our  Ladaki  servant,  Mr.  Eijnhart  and  myself. 
Mr.  Eijnhart  carried  baby,  while  Topsy  with  wagging 
tail  ran  between  the  horses'  feet  as  excited  as  if  she  too 
had  visions  of  the  Blue  Lake. 

About  five  miles  west  of  Tankar,  we  forded  the  Hsi- 
ho  (Western  Eiver)  and  turning  south-west  entered  the 
Ea-la  valley,  in  which  we  passed  a  small  lamasery  of 
the  same  name,  containing  about  two  hundred  priests. 
At  about  5  p.  m.  we  reached  the  limit  of  cultivated 
fields  and  having  met  some  caravans  of  merchants  on 
their  way  to  Tankar  with  wool  and  barley,  camped  with 
them  for  the  night,  continuing  our  journey  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning  into  the  western  wilderness,  leaving 
every  trace  of  the  work, of  man's  hand  behind.  We  had 
not  gone  far  when  one  of  the  yak  fell  down  ill,  and,  as 
the  Tibetans  would  not  think  of  leaving  the  animal  in 
its  sad  condition,  the  whole  caravan  was  obliged  to 
pitch  tents  and  wait  until  he  either  recovered  or  died. 
While  we  prepared  a  fire  and  boiled  some  tea,  the  lama 
doctor,  seeing  an  opportunity  to  prove  his  skill,  under- 
took to  restore  the  animal  to  its  wonted  vigor.  While 
murmuring  low  incantations  he  drew  his  sword  and 
kept  patting  the  animal's  back  and  sides  with  it,  all 
the  while  marching  round  it  and  from  time  to  time 
offering  prayers.  Now  and  then  he  threw  a  handful  of 
road  dust  on  its  head  and  back.     Suddenly  the  incan- 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOK     175 

tations  ceased,  and  the  panalca  was  directed  to  secure 
a  dry  herb,  twist  it  into  two  pyramids  and  setting  fire 
to  them,  put  one  up  each  of  the  yak's  nostrils.  This 
done,  the  incantations  were  resumed  until  finally  the 
yak  gave  a  vigorous  kick  and  the  holy  man  came  to  Join 
us  at  our  fire,  having  concluded  that  his  work  was 
done,  or  that  there  was  no  use  continuing  any  longer. 
As  we  thought  of  the  night  coming  on,  we  fervently 
wished  the  animal  would  take  a  sudden  change  one  way 
or  the  other.  Looking  about  for  a  suitable  place  to 
pitch  our  tent,  and  trying  to  get  reconciled  to  the  idea 
of  passing  the  night  in  that  robber-infested  district, 
Mr.  Rijnhart  cast  another  look  at  the  animal  and  found 
he  had  ceased  to  breathe,  so  that  we  were  now  able  to 
proceed.  The  lama  had  given  us  reason  to  believe  that 
this  district  full  of  gullies  and  crevices,  favorite  hiding- 
places  for  thieves,  was  particularly  dangerous,  and  we' 
were  all  glad  to  leave  it.  At  3  p.  m.  we  crossed  the 
Ra-la,  a  very  high  mountain  pass,  from  which  we  got 
sight  of  the  Koko-nor,  blue  indeed  and  glittering  in  the 
bright  sun.  The  Ra-la  mountains  are  rich  in  iron  and 
there  is  every  indication  of  the  presence  of  more  pre- 
cious metal.  That  night  we  encamped  with  another 
caravan  of  Tibetans,  keeping  watch  during  the  night, 
as  much  for  fear  of  them  as  of  the  attacks  of  brigands. 
These  panalca  dwelling  south  of  the  lake  have  all  more 
or  less  the  appearance  of  thieves  and  robbers,  and  con- 
sidering this,  it  is  amusing  to  witness  one  of  their  cus- 
toms. As  soon  as  a  caravan  stops,  two  or  three  of  the 
men  boil  the  tea,  while  others  unload  the  yak.  When 
the  tea  is  boiling,  all  are  called  around  the  fire.     One 


1T6  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

of  them  throws  a  small  lump  of  butter  into  the  tea, 
takes  the  ladle,  dips  it  out,  and  throws  it  with  a  little 
tea  towards  the  sky.  Then  all  take  off  their  hats  and 
join  the  man  who  sprinkled  the  tea  in  a  kind  of  prayer, 
while  the  latter  twice  again  dips  out  tea  and  throws  it 
up.  The  tea  is  offered  to  a  god,  and  the  prayer  invites 
him  to  come  and  drink  it,  asking  him  to  keep  them 
from  sickness,  to  give  them  peace  on  the  road,  and  to  let 
them  meet  with  only  good,  honest  people.  After  the 
tea  is  finished  the  same  prayer  is  said  again  while  one 
man  turns  out  the  remaining  tea  and  all  the  leaves  by 
the  side  of  the  camp  fire. 

Early  the  following  morning  we  crossed  the  sand  hills 
by  which  the  lake  is  lined,  after  which  we  followed  the 
shore,  over  a  mile  from  the  water's  edge.  Here  was 
most  beautiful  pasture  ground,  gradually  ascending 
from  the  water  and  towering  some  three  to  five  miles 
off  into  lofty  mountains,  covered  with  the  finest  grass. 
Until  noon  we  saw  no  tents  and  then  only  far  out  of 
our  way.  We  stopped  at  Tso-nitag  ("  The  Lake's 
Neck '')  where  we  were  visited  by  some  Tibetans,  to 
whom  we  talked  while  tea  was  being  prepared;  in  the 
distance  we  saw  a  large  caravan,  recognized  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Kambas,  a  wild  tribe  of  Tibetans  living  far- 
ther in,  the  same  barbarians  hj  whom  the  French  trav- 
elers, Dutreuil  de  Ehins  and  Grenard,  were  attacked, 
and  the  former  killed,  about  four  years  previous.  But 
they  stayed  far  from  us,  continuing  their  march.  On 
the  slopes  of  the  mountains  we  saw  herds  of  antelopes, 
here  and  there  a  stray  wolf,  and  a  number  of  white- 
headed  eagles;  also  a  large  species  of  hawk.    The  lake- 


THE  TAN"GUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-N"OR     177 

side  was  literall}^  covered  with  ducks,  geese,  sheldrakes 
and  bustards.  Our  servant  shot  a  goose,  but  as  it  tasted 
so  much  like  sea-water,  it  was  uneatable.  In  some  parts 
the  ground  was  full  of  holes,  in  which  live  lizards,  a 
small,  white  bird,  and  a  species  of  lagomys,  all  very 
plentiful.  During  the  night  there  fell  in  the  valley 
copious  rains,  which  the  chill  air  of  the  high  altitudes 
turned  into  snow,  so  that  with  the  coming  day  we  saw 
the  mountains  covered  with  their  glistening  white  man- 
tle. It  was  the  16th  of  August  when  we  reached  the 
panaka's  camp,  two  hundred  yards  from  the  water's 
edge.  It  included  six  tents  situated  close  together, 
while  many  others  were  visible  further  down  the  shore. 
As  we  approached  the  tents  a  pack  of  about  twenty 
of  the  fiercest  dogs  imaginable  surrounded  us,  and  with 
hideous  yelping  sought  to  drag  us  from  our  ponies, 
being  prevented  from  accomplishing  their  object  only 
by  the  arrival  of  some  of  the  tent  people  who  sub- 
dued them  with  stout  clubs.  After  dismounting  we 
were  led  to  a  tent  and  asked  to  sit  down  on  some  rugs 
beside  a  rude  furnace  made  of  mud  and  stones.  A 
handful  of  churma  and  barley  meal  was  put  into  a 
basin,  tea  poured  upon  it  and  a  large  lump  of  butter 
added,  the  whole  being  stirred  up  and  handed  to  us 
with  a  polite  request  that  we  refresh  ourselves  with  a 
drink,  while  our  own  tent  was  being  erected. 

The  tents  are  made  of  woolen  stuff,  manufactured  by 
the  inhabitants.  Inside  are  four,  or  sometimes  five, 
poles  over  which  the  ropes  run  that  hold  up  the  tent, 
while  outside  there  are  also  poles  to  hold  the  same 
ropes  tight.     The  tents  which,  when  viewed  from  the 


178  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

outside,  resemble  huge  spiders,  are  invariably  black, 
the  inhabitants  therefore  often  being  called  "  Black 
Tibetans.'^  In  the  center  of  the  cloth  of  the  tent  a 
narrow  strip  is  left  open  as  an  exit  for  the  smoke 
ascending  from  the  temporary  furnace  below  it,  which 
divides  the  tent  into  two  parts.  To  the  right  of  this 
furnace  is  the  place  of  honor;  in  it  guests  are  received, 
and  at  night  the  men  sleep  there.  The  left-hand  side 
is  occupied  by  the  women,  children,  and  in  this  case 
some  little  goats  and  young  deer.  The  first  night  while 
we  were  asleep  in  our  tent,  a  huge  dog  entered  and 
carried  away  our  candlestick  and  candle  (a  home-made 
one  of  mutton  fat),  Mr.  Rijnhart's  hat  as  well  as 
all  the  meat  he  could  get.  The  candlestick  we  did  not 
find  for  days  afterwards  and  the  meat  not  at  all,  though 
the  hat  was  not  far  away,  but  the  incident  induced 
Eahim  to  hang  up  nearly  everything  to  the  crossbeam 
of  the  tent  during  the  remainder  of  our  stay. 

The  South  Koko-nor  Tibetans  are  on  the  whole  jovial, 
and  roars  of  laughter  and  merry  song  are  not  uncommon 
in  their  encampments.  Musical  instruments  are,  how- 
ever, not  found  among  them  except  the  drum  and  cym- 
bals. Their  needs  are  few,  and  apparently  they  are 
contented,  each  having  his  one  or  two  garments,  a 
matchlock,  sword,  flint  and  steel,  a  wooden  basin,  knife 
and  chopsticks  (the  latter  less  needful,  the  fingers  serv- 
ing). Each  family  has  a  tent,  some  horses,  cows  and 
sheep,  the  number  being  now  depleted,  now  augmented 
by  the  constant  robberies  practised  first  by  one,  then  by 
another  marauding  tribe.  The  panaha  whose  guests 
we  were  owned  about  twenty  horses,  twelve  cows  and 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOR     179 

eight  hundred  sheep,  and  was  regarded  as  well-to-do. 
In  their  primitive  way  of  living  they  are  rather  clever, 
manufacturing  themselves  the  things  they  need,  with 
few  exceptions.  We  found  them  much  more  stingy  and 
dirty  than  Tibetans  from  any  other  part.  The  women 
were  so  filthy  that  close  contact  with  them  inside  the 
tents  was  as  usual  nauseating  to  me,  so  I  spent  as  much 
time  as  possible  outside,  where  they  congregated  round 
me  and  evinced  the  deepest  interest  in  the  white  baby. 
Even  the  fresh  lake  breezes,  the  limpid  azure  sky  above 
and  the  crystal  clearness  of  the  little  stream  near  by 
could  not  drive  away  the  odor  of  their  gowns,  or  make 
us  unconscious  of  the  abandoned  filthiness  of  their 
persons.  Multitudinous  vermin  and  the  accumulated 
grease  of  years  have  made  them  proof  against  any  fur- 
ther adhesion  of  dirt.  While  the  men  go  to  the  hills, 
always  heavily  armed,  to  guard  the  flocks  and  herds,  the 
women  remain  at  home  making  the  butter  and  cheese, 
and  collecting  argols  to  be  dried  in  the  sun  and  used 
for  fuel.  Without  the  slightest  scruple  they  would  pass 
from  the  manipulation  of  the  argols  to  the  mixture  of 
butter,  the  milking  of  the  cows,  or  the  making  of  tea, 
without  washing  their  hands,  but  simply  wiping  them 
off  on  the  grass ! 

One  strange  feature  about  this  part  of  the  country 
was  the  conspicuous  absence  of  prayer-flags,  prayer- 
wheels  or  prayer-stones  so  abundant  in  every  other 
place  inhabited  by  Tibetans.  We  saw  only  one  prayer- 
wheel,  and  it  belonged  to  a  priest,  who  had  come  for 
contributions.  Mendicant  priests  abound  even  among 
these  nomads  and  their  solicitations  are  nearly  always 


180  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

liberally  responded  to  by  gifts  of  butter,  sheep  and  even 
cows,  horses,  or  anything  else  the  cause  may  require. 
The  liberality  of  these  people  for  religious  purposes  is 
proverbial,  while  they  are  most  niggardly  in  every  other 
way. 

The  cattle  found  among  the  Koko-nor  Tibetans  for 
the  most  part  are  the  long-haired  black  ones  of  the 
same  breed  as  the  yak  (Bos  Grunniens)  which  flourishes 
best  at  high  altitudes.  They  originated  from  wild  cat- 
tle and  are  yet  not  by  any  means  so  tame  as  cows  in  the 
homeland.  They  grunt  instead  of  bawling  and  thus 
remind  one  of  pigs  rather  than  cattle.  They  are  pas- 
tured on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  wherever  there  is 
grass.  The  calves  are  always  driven  in  a  different 
direction  from  the  cows;  both  sheep  and  cattle  are 
rounded  up  with  the  help  of  a  sling,  made  of  a  piece 
of  flat  rope  about  twenty  inches  in  length  on  each 
side  of  the  pouch,  all  woven  of  wool.  The  natives  are 
experts  at  using  these  slings  and  the  animals  know  the 
sound  of  them,  for  often  have  we  seen  the  girls  go 
through  the  motion  of  throwing  a  stone  from  them 
though  they  had  none  to  throw,  when  the  snap  of  the 
sling  would  be  enough  to  make  the  animals  run.  The 
cattle  are  driven  in  at  night  and  tethered,  some 
to  either  side  of  long  ropes  fastened  to  the  ground  with 
pegs,  and  when  milking  time  arrives  the  calves  have  to 
be  mothered  by  the  cows  or  no  milk  will  be  forthcoming. 
When  we  read  in  M.  Hue's  book,  his  account  of  the 
"  stuffed  calf "  we  were  incredulous,  deciding  that  it 
was  only  a  creation  of  the  author's  imagination,  and 
we  had  also  affirmed  our  intention  to  educate  the  Tibe- 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOE     181 

tan  cows  that  are  as  primitive  as  the  people,  but  it 
was  of  no  avail  and  we  had  the  mortification  of  ac- 
knowledging ourselves  beaten  by  our  own  cows.  The 
little  calf  belonging  to  one  of  the  latter  took  sick  and 
died,  though,  in  order  to  save  it,  a  native  woman  burned 
pyramids  of  edelweiss  on  its  spine,  and  carried  it  three 
times  across  a  fire  to  prevent  the  demon  from  remaining 
with  it.  The  mother  was  disconsolate,  and  refused  to 
give  any  milk,  so  we  resorted  to  deception  and  stuffed 
the  hide  of  the  calf  with  straw.  When  milking  time 
arrived  the  woman  carried  the  calf  from  the  straw  room, 
and  the  cow  complacently  licked  her  stuffed  baby  while 
she  willingly  allowed  us  to  milk  her. 

The  milk  is  not  strained  but  is  scalded,  part  of  it  used 
for  tea  and  to  make  butter;  the  other  part  is  mixed 
with  a  very  little  junket  left  for  the  purpose  from  the 
day  before,  poured  into  vessels  and  allowed  to  remain; 
in  the  morning  it  is  "  set "  into  junket,  though  not  so 
sweet,  and  becomes  the  sho  so  highly  esteemed  by  the 
Tibetans.  The  cream  removed  from  the  scalded  milk 
is  placed  in  a  not  scrupulously  clean  wooden  churn  and 
is  churned  with  a  dash  as  our  old  fashioned  churns 
have;  the  butter  is  squeezed  by  the  hands,  thereby  re- 
moving the  milk,  and  pressed  into  small  flat  round 
pieces,  or  into  a  skin  sometimes  with  part  of  the  fur 
in  it,  or  into  a  sheep's  stomach.  The  butter  is  very  often 
full  of  hairs  from  the  animals,  and  other  kinds  of  dirt, 
and  often  streaked  with  green,  but  is  prized  highly  as 
an  article  of  diet.  Among  some  tribes  I  have  heard 
the  older  the  butter  the  better  it  is  liked,  but  wherever 
we  have  been,  the  fresher  it  is  the  higher  price  it  com- 


182  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

mands.  The  butter-milk  is  curded  and  the  curds  are 
dried,  sometimes  in  the  sun,  becoming  churma,  which 
is  eaten  with  barley  meal  and  tea  or  with  barley  meal 
and  butter  when  there  is  no  opportunity  to  boil  tea,  the 
whole  mixed  up  with  the  fingers  and  eaten  in  lumps. 
The  meat  used  by  the  Tibetans  is  as  a  rule  mutton, 
and  though  the  lamas  consume  large  quantities  of  the 
meat,  they  avoid  killing  it  if  possible.  The  natives  are 
exceedingly  skilful  in  catching  the  very  sheep  they 
want  out  of  a  flock  of  several  hundred  by  means  of  a 
lasso,  and  the  Tibetans  we  knew  best,  unless  we  ex- 
pressly desired  it  otherwise,  slaughtered  the  animals 
by  tying  a  rope  tightly  about  the  nose,  thereby  cutting 
off  the  supply  of  air.  Immediately  afterwards  the 
throat  was  cut,  all  being  accomplished  amidst  the 
mumbling  of  the  prayer  Om  mani  padme  hum.  The 
hide  is  removed  carefully  and  cured  in  a  primitive  man- 
ner, becoming  the  material  of  which  the  gowns  are 
made,  or  perhaps  it  is  shipped  to  China.  Almost  ever}'' 
particle  of  the  animal  is  eaten,  the  entrails  are  turned 
inside  out,  imperfectly  washed  and  filled  with  chopped 
up  liver,  lights,  heart,  and  kidney,  seasoned  with  salt 
and  mixed  with  tsamba,  not  unlike  haggis  when  prop- 
erly prepared.  I  have  seen  Tibetans  when  traveling, 
cut  up  the  hearts  and  kidneys,  mix  some  blood  with  it, 
put  all  in  a  pot,  and  just  bring  it  to  a  boil  and  eat 
it  with  great  relish.  Often  they  put  pieces  of  meat 
right  on  the  fire,  notwithstanding  the  kind  of  fuel  they 
use,  and  broil  it.  As  a  rule  the  meat  is  boiled  and 
eaten  in  large  quantities,  the  fattest  being  considered  the 
choicest ;  hence  the  tail  is  given  to  guests  as  a  mark  of 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOR     183 

respect  or  honor.  The  bones  are  picked  very  clean  and 
then  cracked  on  a  stone,  or  by  a  sharp  blow  from  a 
knife,  and  the  marrow  removed  and  eaten.  The  scapula, 
or  shoulder  bone,  is  put  into  the  fire  very  often  and 
used  to  tell  fortunes  with,  according  to  the  cracks  made 
by  the  heat.  Some  prayers  are  usually  written  on  them 
and  they  are  then  hung  up  near  water  prayer  wheels 
on  strings  across  a  road  or  near  a  tent. 

The  tea  is  the  most  important  item  in  Tibetan  culi- 
nary art,  and  any  one  who  can  make  it  to  suit  the  fasti- 
dious is  indeed  clever.  The  tea  used  is  the  brick  tea, 
made  of  the  coarse  leaves  and  small  twigs  of  the  tea 
plant  in  China,  pressed  into  bricks  bound  around  by 
basket  work,  and  sent  up  to  the  Tibetan  border  on  the 
backs  of  coolies,  and  then  into  the  interior  of  Tibet  on 
the  backs  of  oxen.  There  are  three  principal  grades  and 
the  best  grade  goes  in  very  large  quantities  to  Lhasa. 
The  brass  pot  in  which  the  tea  is  to  be  made  is  thor- 
oughly cleaned  with  some  dried  argots  if  nothing  else 
is  at  hand,  and,  the  correct  amount  of  water  having  been 
poured  in,  is  placed  upon  a  good  fire;  the  leaves  are 
then  in  large  quantities  put  into  the  water,  and  a  little 
salt  and  sometimes  soda,  if  they  have  it,  is  added,  and 
the  whole  is  thoroughly  boiled.  The  tea  is  then  strained 
into  a  churn  containing  butter  and  tsamba  and  the 
whole  is  churned  up  into  a  mixture  looking  not  unlike 
chocolate,  but  with  a  very  different  taste.  The  leaves 
are  often  used  a  second  time  or  are  fed  to  the  horses. 
Should  the  harder  brick  tea  be  the  kind  used,  a  piece 
is  put  in  a  wooden  mortar  and  with  a  stone  pestle  is 
powdered  up  and  then  added  to  the  water.    Tea  poured 


184  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

into  a  basin  on  a  piece  of  butter  is  drunk  in  very  large 
quantities,  composing  the  only  breakfast  partaken  of 
before  10  o'clock.  Every  one  carries  along  with  him 
in  the  blouse  of  his  gown  his  own  drinking  bowl  made 
of  wood,  among  the  better  class  lined  with  silver  or 
white  metal.  The  butter  sinks  into  the  wood  and  as  it 
is  often  rancid,  the  basin  soon  takes  on  a  peculiar,  not 
at  all  inviting  odor,  especially  as  the  only  dishcloth  the 
natives  possess  is  their  tongue,  the  bowl  being  thoroughly 
licked  out  after  use.  When  partaking  of  Tibetan  hos- 
pitality, tea  drinking  is  sometimes  more  of  a  bore  than 
a  pleasure,  the  pressure  brought  upon  you  to  drink  more, 
your  basin  being  filled  up  whenever  set  down,  being 
60  hard  to  resist,  and  yet  if  the  butter  is  not  fresh  the 
tea  acts  almost  like  an  emetic.  There  is  no  more  gen- 
uine hospitality  than  that  to  be  found  among  these 
nomadic  people  and  not  to  accept  it  with  the  grace 
with  which  it  is  proffered,  at  once  raises  a  barrier  be- 
tween you  and  them.  Frequently  we  have  seen  travelers 
insist  upon  perfect  strangers  eating  their  butter  and 
tsamha;  and  almost  invariably  the  latter  would  do  so, 
and  upon  finishing,  leave  as  much  of  their  own  in  the 
place  of  what  they  had  eaten.  Delightful,  pleasant  in- 
tercourse with  these  tent-dwellers  living  so  simple  and 
so  natural  a  life ! 

In  some  families  the  tsamha  is  ground  fresh  every 
morning.  A  half  basin  of  tea  with  a  liberal  supply  of 
butter  is  heaped  up  with  tsamha  from  a  skin  bag,  and 
without  spilling  a  particle  of  the  meal,  the  natives  skil- 
fully knead  the  whole  into  a  mass  and  eat  it  from  the 
hand  in  pieces,  as  we  eat  bread.    It  is  remarkable  that 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOR     185 

the  natives  prize  the  tsamha  so  highly  as  an  article  of 
diet,  and  yet  except  in  certain  places  none  of  the  land  is 
cultivated,  the  people  preferring  to  lead  nomadic  lives 
and  go  sometimes  a  month's  journey  for  their  tsamha  to 
doing  agricultural  work  even  on  a  small  scale.  The 
barley  is  used  to  make  chang,  an  alcoholic  drink  of 
which  the  natives  imbibe  very  large  quantities.  It  is 
made  by  soaking  the  barley  at  a  moderate  heat  for  some 
days  and  then  crushing  and  straining  it.  Chinese  wine 
is  freely  used  along  the  border  and  even  long  distances 
into  Tibetan  territory.  Both  men  and  women  drink 
freely,  becoming  jovial,  and  often,  if  away  from  home, 
avaricious  and  quarrelsome,  and  pity  the  poor  travelers 
falling  unprotected  into  the  hands  of  drunken  Tibetans. 

Among  the  Koko-nor  Tibetans  the  women  are  vested 
with  all  authority  in  household  affairs.  We  wanted  to 
barter  a  knife  for  another  pair  of  bellows,  and  the  man 
with  whom  we  bargained  said,  "  I  must  first  go  to  the 
tent  and  ask  my  wife  if  I  may  do  so." 

As  soon  as  our  own  tent  was  erected  we  repaired  to 
it  and  were  immediately  visited  by  our  panaJca  bearing 
a  present  of  dried  meat  which  we  graciously  acknowl- 
edged. We  also  had  visits  from  many  priests  and  others 
with  whom  we  conversed  on  Christianity,  and  presented 
each  one  with  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  in  their  own  tongue. 
Our  tent  was  pitched  in  a  charming  situation  whence 
we  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  lake  and  its  environs. 
To  the  south  and  west  stretched  ranges  of  mountains 
covered  with  fine  grass,  their  summits  burned  to  crim- 
son by  the  setting  sun.  On  the  other  side,  like  a 
gigantic  jewel  of  the  desert,  lay  the  lake,  while  faintly 


186  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

visible  in  the  distance  beyond  its  northern  and  eastern 
shores  other  mountain  ranges  blended  their  bluey  out- 
lines with  the  sky.  The  lake  is  not  large,  being,  accord- 
ing to  Eockhill,  about  230  miles  in  circumference.* 
The  same  author  calculates  the  altitude  as  10,900  feet, 
while  Dr.  Sven  Hedin  places  it  at  9,975  feet.  The 
lake  is,  so  the  natives  informed  us,  fed  by  seventy-two 
streams;  of  these  we  had  already  crossed  thirty-one, 
none  of  them  large  enough  to  merit  the  appellation  of 
river,  but  they  supply  man  and  beast  with  fresh  water, 
a  mission  which  the  Koko-nor  with  all  its  beauty  cannot 
fulfill,  since  its  waters  are  salty.  On  the  side  where 
we  were  camped  there  was  no  beach,  the  grass  contin- 
uing right  to  the  water's  edge. 

In  the  lake  are  three  distinct  islands  a  considerable 
distance  apart;  the  western  one,  a  low  strip  of  land,  is 
uninhabited,  and  is  named  Tso-ri-wa-ri ;  the  middle 
one,  called  Sam-me-che-kur,  lying  near  the  southern 
shore,  is  a  mass  of  white  rock  (probably  granite,  which 
abounds  in  all  the  mountain  ranges  of  the  district) 
rising  perpendicular  out  of  the  water;  the  third  one, 
first  mentioned  by  Hue  and  later  by  Eockhill  and  Prje- 
valski,  is  called  Tso-ri-niah.  Projecting  high  above 
the  surface  of  the  water,  it  is  at  once  an  island  and  a 
truncated  hill.  The  natives  attribute  to  it  a  legendary 
origin  which  is  as  follows:  The  waters  that  have 
formed  the  Blue  Lake  flowed  into  the  basin  which  they 
now  fill  through  a  long  subterranean  passage  leading 
from  Lhasa,  the  holy  city.  A  god  having  compassion 
on  the  country  lest  it  should  be  completely  inundated, 

'*'  Prjevalski's  measurement  is  266  Kilometers. 


THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOR     187 

placed  the  Tso-ri-niah  mountain  rock  at  the  mouth 
of  the  passage  and  caused  the  flow  to  cease.  Hue  has 
given  a  most  elaborate  version  of  this  legend  in  the 
second  volume  of  his  work.  It  is  only  one  of  the  many 
that  have  grown  up  around  the  lake  and  islands.  As 
Dr.  Hedin  passed  through  the  Koko-nor  country  he 
heard  the  following :  "  In  the  grey  far  off  days  of  old, 
a  great  lama  dug  a  vast  hole  in  the  ground.  Then  he 
took  a  white  root  and  a  black  root  of  some  plant,  and, 
holding  them  over  the  chasm,  cut  the  black  root  into 
two  halves,  out  of  which  the  water  gushed  fdrth  in 
streams  until  it  filled  the  lake.  If  he  had  cut  the  white 
root,  the  hole  would  have  been  filled  with  milk.  It  was 
fortunate  he  cut  the  root  out  of  which  the  water  flowed, 
for  otherwise  the  people  who  lived  in  those  parts  would 
not  have  been  able  to  keep  sheep  and  so  would  have  had 
nothing  to  do.  After  that  the  lama  went  up  into  a  high 
mountain  close  by,  and  broke  out  of  it  an  enormous 
piece  of  rock  and  cast  it  into  the  middle  of  the  lake, 
and  that  was  how  the  island  was  made."* 

On  the  Tso-ri-niah  is  a  small  lamasery  containing 
twelve  hermit  lamas  and  two  incarnations  of  "  living 
buddhas  "  one  of  whom  belongs  to  Gomba  Soma.  These 
recluses  spend  most  of  their  time  on  the  island  in  prayer 
and  meditation,  coming  into  contact  with  the  "  world  " 
only  in  winter  time  when  they  cross  on  the  ice  to  the 
mainland  to  collect  contributions  of  butter,  tea,  barley- 
meal,  and  other  provisions  necessary  for  their  subsist- 
ence. They  are  not  supposed  to  eat  any  meat,  but  they 
keep  goats  on  the  island  to  supply  them  with  milk.    No 

*  "  Through  Asia,"  by  Sven  Hedin,  Vol.  II,  p.  1143. 


188  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

sign  of  a  boat  is  to  be  seen  along  the  shore,  so  that  no 
communication  can  be  had  with  the  mainland  in  the 
summer  months. 

On  the  day  after  arrival  we  expressed  our  readiness 
to  operate  on  our  patient's  eye,  but,  as  the  time  for 
moving  to  their  winter  quarters  had  come,  we  decided 
at  the  request  of  the  panaka's  people  to  wait  two  days 
until  they  should  have  moved  their  camp  to  the  ad- 
joining mountains,  to  a  place  which  marked  the  first 
of  three  stages  to  the  winter  camping-grounds.  We 
distributed  Gospels  and  talked  to  some  priests;  had  a 
bath  in  the  lake  and  saw  large  quantities  of  fish.  Two 
days  later  we  moved,  making  the  ascent  of  a  lofty 
mountain  from  which  in  the  distance  the  lake  appeared 
like  a  sheet  of  glass.  The  operation  was  duly  performed 
and  as  far  as  we  could  ascertain,  was  very  successful. 
The  following  day  we  gave  copies  of  the  Gospels  to 
many  Tanguts,  among  others  to  thirteen  priests,  who 
were  returning  to  Tankar  from  gathering  contributions, 
and  were  passing  our  encampment.  Two  days  later  the 
report  reached  us  that  they  had  been  attacked  and 
robbed  of  everything — our  books  likely  having  been 
carried  off  too.  The  report  of  the  robbing  of  the  thir- 
teen priests,  as  well  as  the  losing  of  their  horses,  struck 
fear  into  the  hearts  of  two  lamas  who  wanted  to  return, 
as  well  as  into  the  hearts  of  our  priest  and  book-keeper : 
so  they  decided  to  await  our  return  and  travel  safely 
under  the  protection  of  our  fire-arms.  On  the  2nd  of 
the  eighth  moon  we  prepared  for  the  journey.  Stand- 
ing on  the  mountain  height  as  the  rising  sun  peeped 
over  the  eastern  ridges  and  mirrored  his  glowing  face 


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THE  TANGUTS  OF  THE  KOKO-NOE     189 

on  the  glassy  surface  of  the  lake,  we  inhaled  once  more 
the  exhilarating  hreezes  that  swept  across  it,  and  felt 
in  our  hearts  as  we  gazed  on  its  placid  waters  how 
delightful  it  would  be  ever  to  abide  by  its  shores.  But 
dangers  were  pressing  and  duty  called  us  back  to  Tan- 
kar.  We  must  turn  away  from  those  beautiful  shores 
and  from  the  watery  oasis,  so  bright  and  pure,  like 
the  lakes  that  wash  the  shores  of  Ontario,  my  native 
province.  Thou  blue  inland  sea,  in  silence  lift- 
ing thy  unsullied  waters  to  the  pure  heavens,  reflect- 
ing in  thy  limpid  depths  the  pageantry  of  the  rolling 
clouds;  thou  fountain  of  legends  that  well  up  from 
thy  mysterious  depths  and  allure  to  thy  shores  the  dark 
faced  sons  of  the  desert  to  worship  the  Great  Spirit 
whose  voice  is  heard  in  thy  silence;  thou  sapphire  of 
the  wilderness,  safely  guarded  in  the  embrace  of  en- 
circling hills,  and  mirroring  the  radiances  of  the  sun- 
sets of  ages,  Aegean  in  thy  grandeur  with  thy  rocky 
Patmos,  we  bid  thee  farewell,  but  from  our  souls  the 
apocalypse  of  thy  beauty  will  never  be  effaced ! 

Having  some  Gospels  left  we  decided  to  distribute 
them  among  the  encampments  we  might  meet  along  the 
road,  and  it  was  not  long  before  we  had  an  opportunity. 
The  priests  and  people  received  the  books  gladly.  Mr. 
Eijnhart  estimated  that  on  the  trip  at  least  two  thou- 
sand Tibetans  were  reached  with  some  knowledge  of  the 
gospel.  As  far  as  possible  we  tried  to  put  a  book  into 
each  tent  and  since  in  each  is  a  lama  who  can  read,  it 
is  safe  to  conclude  that  ten  people  would  hear  some 
reading  from  each  book.     On  the  whole  we  were  much 


190  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

encouraged  by  this  itinerating  work,  and  decided  it 
was  a  most  effective  way  of  preparing  these  rude,  but 
interesting  nomads  for  the  reception  of  Christian  teach- 
ing. 


CHAPTER  XI 

TOWARD    THE    TIBETAN    CAPITAL 

Lhasa,  the  Home  of  the  Dalai  Lama — Need  of  Pioneer 
Work  in  Inner  Tibet — Our  Preparations  for  the  Jour- 
ney. 

In  the  far  interior  of  Tibet,  about  one  hundred  miles 
north  of  the  Himalayan  range,  sheltered  by  sacred  moun- 
tains on  every  side,  is  Lhasa,  the  capital,  the  only  city 
in  the  world  which  is  absolutely  inaccessible  to  West- 
erners. To  set  foot  within  its  walls  has  been  the  ambi- 
tion of  many  travelers  of  the  present  century :  one  expe- 
dition after  another,  even  after  crossing  the  formidable 
passes  that  lead  through  the  natural  barriers  enclosing 
the  country  on  the  south  and  west,  has  been  obliged  to 
retreat  without  a  sight  of  the  coveted  goal.  For  the 
scant  information  regarding  the  city  we  are  indebted 
to  Hue  and  Gabet,  probably  the  last  Europeans  to  visit 
it  (that  was  in  1846),  and  to  the  Indian  Pandit  A.  K., 
who  resided  there  for  some  time.  The  attempts  of 
Prjevalski,  Bonvalot,  Eockhill,  Landor  and  others  to 
penetrate  to  the  forbidden  capital  have  been  in  vain, 
every  one  of  them  being  obliged  by  officials  to  turn 
back,  or,  being  unable  to  proceed  on  account  of  the 
hardships  they  have  been  compelled  to  endure.     To- 

191 


192  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

day  the  eyes  of  the  traveler  and  scientist  as  well  as 
those  of  the  missionary,  are  eagerly  watching  for  the 
development  of  events  that  will  lead  to  the  downfall  of 
the  barriers  that  too  long  have  kept  a  people  in  dark- 
ness, and  bid  defiance  to  the  march  of  Christian  civil- 
ization. 

During  our  residence  of  three  years  at  Kumbum  and 
■Tankar,  Lhasa  had  become  a  subject  of  almost  daily 
conversation.  The  four  Icushok,  and  especially  Shar-je- 
ja-ba  had  told  us  much  about  the  city  and  its  surround- 
ings— its  great  temples,  revered  priests  and  the  exalted 
Dalai  Lama.  Mina  Fuyeh  had  spoken  of  the  sacred 
college  there,  and  of  the  many  lamas  who  resort  to  it 
from  all  parts  of  Tibet  to  study  the  profound  doctrine 
of  Sakya  Muni,  and  of  the  multitudes  of  pilgrims  who 
feel  themselves  amply  rewarded  for  months  of  perilous 
traveling  by  worshipping  in  the  Dalai  Lama's  temple 
with  its  five  golden  cupolas,  and  receiving  his  blessing 
by  touching  his  magic  scepter.  City  of  mystery  and 
wisdom,  what  wonder  that  every  lama's  supreme  ambi- 
tion is  to  go  there  to  study  or  to  worship?  Many  of 
those  who  are  not  able  to  go  in  state  walk  all  the  dis- 
tance, often  begging  as  they  go,  so  that  they  will  be  no 
temptation  to  robbers.  Mina  Fuyeh  often  told  us  that 
it  would  cost  him  a  fortune  to  go,  for,  being  of  such 
high  rank  himself,  he  would  be  expected  to  give  very 
handsome  offerings  to  the  Dalai  Lama  and  the  temples 
in  Lhasa,  otherwise  he  would  not  receive  the  considera- 
tion due  him.  The  necessity  of  keeping  up  appearances 
— the  demands  that  rank  entails  upon  human  beings, 
are  the  same  everywhere,  whether  in  the  wilds  of  Tibet, 


TOWAED   THE   TIBETAN   CAPITAL     193 

or  in  the  cultured  cities  of  the  west.  Mina  Fuyeh 
very  conveniently  excused  himself  from  undertaking  a 
journey  to  Lhasa,  for  he  declared  that,  having  paid 
homage  to  the  potentate  in  his  previous  life-time,  he 
did  not  intend  to  visit  Lhasa  again  \mtil  his  next  life- 
time !  Not  long  ago  I  received  news  that  the  former 
abbot  had  undertaken  a  journey  to  Pekin  and  Eastern 
Mongolia,  a  journey  which  will  bring  him  a  handsome 
income,  as  Tibetan  lamas  in  those  regions  are  greatly 
revered,  receiving  in  exchange  for  their  services  the 
most  munificent  offerings.  I  have  often  thought  he  was 
more  concerned  in  accumulating  wealth  for  himself 
and  increasing  his  own  influence  than  in  contributing 
to  the  exchequer  of  the  Dalai  Lama. 

In  common  with  all  other  missionaries  and  travelers 
interested  in  Tibet,  we  had  thought,  read,  and  dreamed 
much  about  Lhasa  even  before  we  reached  the  border, 
and  indeed  our  hope  and  faith  led  us  to  look  forward 
to  the  time  when  the  gospel  could  be  preached  there,  as 
well  as  in  every  nomadic  encampment  on  the  Tibetan 
plateau.  We  knew  moreover  that  if  ever  the  gospel  were 
proclaimed  in  Lhasa,  some  one  would  have  to  be  the 
first  to  undertake  the  journey,  to  meet  the  difficulties, 
to  preach  the  first  sermon  and  perhaps  never  return  to 
tell  the  tale — who  knew?  Pioneer  work  in  mission 
fields  has  from  the  days  of  the  apostles  down  to  the 
present  entailed  its  martyrdoms  as  well  as  yielded  its 
glorious  results.  If  the  opening  of  Africa  meant  the 
sacrifice  of  a  Livingstone,  if  the  Christianization  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands  meant  the  cruel  death  of  John  Wil- 
liams, if  the  triumphs  of  the  Cross  in  Uganda  were 


194  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

wrought  over  the  body  of  the  murdered  Hannington, 
and  if  Burmah  must  be  trod  by  the  bleeding  feet  of 
Judson  and  his  wife,  before  the  great  harvest  of  five 
hundred  churches  can  be  reaped,  could  it  be  possible 
that  all  Tibet  should  be  Christianized,  that  witness  of 
the  Christ  should  be  borne  in  the  very  stronghold  of 
Buddhism  without  some  suffering,  some  persecution, 
nay  without  tears  and  blood? 

As  I  have  already  stated,  we  felt  from  the  very  be- 
ginning that  we  were  specially  called  to  do  pioneer  work ; 
and  now  that  it  had  been  permitted  us  to  travel  among 
the  Tanguts  of  the  Koko-nor,  preaching,  teaching,  doc- 
toring, and  distributing  the  Scriptures  for  many  days 
into  the  grass  country,  we  were  willing  to  be  thrust 
into  other  unknown  and  more  distant  fields.  Not  a 
single  missionary  was  laboring  in  the  Lhasa  district, 
and  yet  there  was  the  Master's  command :  "  Preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Having  prayed  that 
God  would  open  our  way  to  the  interior,  we  had  quietly 
awaited  events.  We  asked  that  we  might  be  divinely 
guided  at  every  step  and  that  the  means  might  be  pro- 
vided for  the  journey.  Our  prayers  were  answered  and, 
although  we  knew  not  what  the  results  would  be,  we 
rejoiced  exceedingly  that  we  were  counted  worthy  to 
traverse  for  the  first  time  in  the  name  of  Christ  whole 
districts  in  which  His  name  had  never  been  heard. 
Whether  we  should  ever  reach  Lhasa  or  not,  we  did 
not  know:  our  desire  was  to  approach  as  near  to  it 
as  possible,  settle  down  for  a  year's  work  in  the  far 
interior,  gain  the  confidence  of  the  people  as  we  had 
done  on  the  border  and  then  eventuall}' — in  God's  time 


TOWARD   THE  TIBETAN"   CAPITAL     195 

— enter  the  capital.  On  the  way  too,  we  would  take  note 
of  all  points  where  missions  might  be  established,  con- 
versing with  the  different  tribes  and  ascertaining  their 
attitude  in  the  matter.  Besides  this,  we  had  ordered 
a  large  supply  of  Scriptures  which  we  would  distribute 
as  we  journeyed,  and  thus  our  pioneer  work  would  be 
sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  cannot  return 
unto  its  Author  void.  Let  it  be  clearly  understood 
that  the  purpose  of  our  journey  was  purely  missionary; 
it  was  not  a  mere  adventure  or  expedition  prompted  by 
curiosity  or  desire  for  discovery,  but  a  desire  to  ap- 
proach our  fellow  men  with  the  uplifting  message  of 
Truth  and  to  share  with  them  blessings  that  God  had 
ordained  for  all  mankind — and  we  knew  that  even  if 
our  mission  apparently  failed,  the  path  at  least  would 
have  been  beaten,  and  that  in  due  time  other  laborers 
would  be  sent  forth  to  carry  on  the  work. 

From  a  human  standpoint  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  inviting  in  such  an  undertaking.  On  the  fron- 
tier the  minds  of  Chinese  and  Tibetans  alike  are  filled 
with  fear  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the  journey  to  Lhasa, 
through  robber  districts,  over  very  high  mountain  passes, 
and  across  large  rivers,  and  to  a  certain  extent  we  had 
shared  their  apprehensions;  but  after  the  thrilling  ex- 
periences of  the  Mohammedan  rebellion,  and  after  com- 
ing into  such  close  contact  with  the  people  through  our 
residence  in  the  house  of  the  abbot,  and  especially  after 
our  itinerating  journeys  among  the  nomads  of  the  Koko- 
nor,  every  vestige  of  fear  was  gradually  removed.  Fre- 
quent and  intimate  conversations  with  merchants,  lamas 
and  others,  including  many  women,  who  had  been  back- 


196  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

wards  and  forwards  from  Lhasa  several  times,  took 
away  the  terror  of  passes,  rivers,  arid  wastes,  and  death- 
dealing  winds,  of  which  we  had  heard  so  much,  and 
Inner  Tibet  did  not  seem  so  far  away,  so  impossible 
to  reach,  as  we  had  at  first  been  led  to  believe. 

Shar-je-ja-ba  and  many  others  from  the  sacred  city 
had  told  us  that  we  might  go  as  far  into  the  country 
as  we  chose,  even  to  within  one  day's  journey  of  the 
capital,  and  stay  as  long  as  we  wished,  provided  we 
did  not  tr)'^  to  go  to  their  city  of  worship,  as  contact 
with  Europeans  would  defile  their  high  priest.  Know- 
ing that  a  passport  from  the  Sining  Amban  or  Tartar 
General  would  give  us  the  good-will  of  the  people  be- 
3^ond  the  districts  where  we  ourselves  were  so  well  known, 
Mr.  Eijnhart  applied  for  one,  though  other  travelers 
going  in  from  China,  scrupulously  avoid  allowing  this 
official  to  know  they  are  going  into  Tibet,  as  he  would 
not  permit  them  to  proceed,  did  he  know  their  inten- 
tions. However,  our  aid  to  the  soldiers  and  other 
wounded  during  the  rebellion,  was  so  much  appreciated, 
that  we  felt  if  any  one  could  procure  a  passport  from 
this  man  we  were  in  a  good  position  to  do  so.  He  was 
very  friendly  indeed,  but  said  much  as  he  would  like 
to  help  us  he  had  not  the  power  to  give  us  a  passport, 
because  our  Chinese  ones  were  only  for  the  Sze  Chuan 
and  Kansu  provinces,  and  advised  us  that  the  next  pass- 
port we  applied  for  at  Shanghai  or  Pekin  should  be 
made  out  for  Kansu  and  the  Tsing-hai  or  Koko-nor, 
and  upon  it  he  could  then  give  us  one  in  Tibetan  which 
would  enable  us  to  travel  in  safety.  Mr.  Eijnhart  then 
asked  him  to  give  us  a  letter  saying  to  those  who  read 


TOWAED  THE  TIBETAN  CAPITAL     197 

it  that  we  were  on  a  peaceful  mission,  and  that  the  peo- 
ple had  nothing  to  fear  from  us;  whereupon  he  replied 
that  he  would  gladly  do  so,  but  that  he  could  not  affix 
his  official  seal,  so  we  refused  the  letter,  knowing  that 
did  we  show  to  the  Tibetans  a  letter  purporting  to  be 
from  the  Amban,  and  they  looked  for  his  seal  which 
was  not  there,  they  would  think  a  lama  had  written  it 
and  at  once  conclude  we  were  dishonest,  so  it  would 
do  more  harm  than  good.  However,  he  said  that  though 
he  could  not  give  us  a  passport  or  an  escort,  he  had  no 
power  to  prevent  our  going,  and  added  that  we  might 
go  where  we  chose,  and  stay  as  long  as  we  wished. 

When  it  became  known  among  the  natives  that  we 
intended  to  make  a  journey  into  the  interior,  our 
friends,  though  they  tried  to  dissuade  us,  did  all  in  their 
power  to  help  us  make  our  preparations.  Without 
this  help  we  would  not  have  known  just  how  to  arrange, 
for  in  a  country  like  Tibet,  the  natives  know  how  to  man- 
age transport  animals,  pack-saddles,  hobbles,  food,  etc., 
better  than  foreigners  do.  At  this  time  Eahim  was  of 
inestimable  value  to  us,  and  forwarded  our  going  as  no 
other  servant  could  have  done,  for  our  journey  would 
take  him  in  the  direction  of  his  home  in  Ladak,  and 
he  was  anxious  to  see  his  mother  and  friends  who  were 
in  all  probability  mourning  him  as  dead.  We  first  de- 
cided how  many  men  we  would  take  with  us,  and  then 
calculated  how  much  food  we  would  need,  and  so  how 
many  animals  we  would  have  to  purchase.  We  already 
knew  the  danger  of  having  too  little  food,  and  Eahim  did 
not  allow  us  to  forget  that  either,  having  narrowly 
escaped  dying  from  hunger  in  the  far  unpopulated  in- 


198  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

terior.  We  did  not  wish  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  petty 
chiefs,  who  might  choose  to  dictate,  saying  that  if  we 
did  not  accede  to  their  wishes  they  would  not  permit 
the  people  to  sell  us  any  food,  a  calamity  that  had 
already  befallen  travelers  among  these  exclusive  nomads. 
To  avoid  being  boycotted  in  the  above  mentioned  way, 
we  decided  to  take  with  us  food  enough  to  last  us  two 
years,  hoping  we  would  be  beyond  the  border  for  that 
length  of  time.  There  were  two  reasons  why  we  did 
not  take  a  large  caravan.  One  was  our  belief  that  a 
small  caravan  would  excite  less  suspicion  and  covet- 
ousness,  and  another  was  the  fact  that  a  small  caravan 
would  be  more  easily  managed,  requiring  fewer  serv- 
ants to  look  after  it.  We  would  also  have  less  trouble 
in  looking  after  them,  and  further  Ave  would  not  re- 
quire such  large  quantities  of  supplies.  We  decided 
to  take  only  two  men  besides  Eahim,  and  would  there- 
fore need  five  riding  animals  and  twelve  pack-animals. 
Besides  this  we  sent  some  camel-loads  ahead  to  the 
Ts'aidam,  a  Mongol  settlement  about  a  month's  jour- 
ney from  Tankar. 

Every  year  a  large  caravan  of  hopas,  who  have  been 
trading  on  the  border  and  at  Pekin,  leaves  Tankar  for 
home,  and  as  the  roads  over  the  mountains  are  impas- 
sable in  winter  time,  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  moon 
is  fixed  as  the  date  for  starting.  In  the  spring  of 
1898,  this  time  fell  about  the  middle  of  May,  so  all 
our  plans  were  laid  for  leaving  at  the  same  time  as  this 
caravan,  many  of  whom  we  knew  very  well.  Tankar 
was  a  busy  place  indeed  amid  all  the  preparations  for 
the  departure  of  such  an  immense  caravan,  providing 


TOWAED  THE  TIBETAN  CAPITAL     199 

animals,  food  and  other  things  requisite  for  a  journey 
of  nearly  three  months.  Though  the  Jcopas  come  out 
of  Tibet  with  yak,  they  usually  sell  these  animals  on 
the  border  and  buy  mules  for  the  return  Journey,  the 
latter  commanding  a  high  price  in  the  interior.  See- 
ing that  we  expected  to  stay  some  time  in  the  Ts'aidam 
we  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  take  mules,  since  they  do 
not  winter  as  well  there  as  horses.  Besides,  we  did  not 
purpose  to  burden  ourselves  with  grain  to  feed  our  ani- 
mals, and  with  mules,  grain  is  indispensable.  Until  we 
had  bought  the  required  number  of  horses,  our  court- 
yard presented  oftentimes  a  peculiar  aspect,  and  it 
was  laughable  to  see  some  of  the  animals  brought  to  us 
for  sale  by  those  who  thought  foreigners  did  not  know 
very  much  about  ordinary  everyday  life  and  its  re- 
quirements; there  were  horses  large  and  small,  fat  and 
lean,  diseased  and  lame,  and  some  with  beautiful  sad- 
dles under  which  were  deep  sores.  On  the  borders  of 
Tibet  all  bargaining  between  two  persons  is  done 
through  a  middleman,  up  whose  sleeve  the  seller  puts 
his  hand,  and  by  the  way  he  grasps  the  different  fingers 
of  the  former's  hand,  makes  known  his  price;  where- 
upon the  buyer  is  notified  in  the  same  silent  and  unseen 
manner.  He  then  tells  the  middleman  how  much  he 
is  willing  to  give,  and  so  backwards  and  forwards  in 
the  sleeves  the  price  is  arranged.  As  the  business  be- 
comes brisk,  however,  the  silence  is  broken,  and  often 
gives  way  to  general  confusion.  There  were  pack  sad- 
dles to  be  provided  for  our  transport  horses,  and  one 
must  be  careful  not  to  be  induced  to  buy  yak  saddles, 
instead  of  mule  or  horse  saddles,  for  they  are  entirely 


200  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

unsuitable.  Pack  saddles  are  made  of  wood  consisting 
of  two  horizontal  pieces  for  sides,  joined  to  each  other 
over  the  back  of  the  horse  by  two  rounded  pieces,  one 
in  front  and  one  behind,  padding,  straps  and  ropes 
completing  the  outfit.  Blacksmiths  were  busy  making 
iron  hobbles — chains  with  cuffs  which  are  fastened  on 
the  forefeet  of  one  or  more  horses,  and  locked,  the  owner 
keeping  the  key.  These  are  used  to  prevent  the  animals 
being  stolen  at  night,  and  are  a  native  invention,  while 
others  woven  of  wool  and  yak-hair  are  used  to  keep 
them  from  straying  too  far  away  when  grazing,  and  to 
make  the  catching  of  them  when  wanted  an  easy  mat- 
ter. While  horses,  saddles,  ropes,  etc.,  were  being  got 
ready,  we  had  tailors  and  women  making  for  us  all  the 
Tibetan  clothing  we  might  need,  and  though  Chinese 
tailors  are  nuisance  enough  when  sewing  for  you,  they 
bear  no  comparison  to  Mongolians  and  Tibetans.  Never 
had  we  dreamed  of  the  difficulties  of  getting  garments 
made,  so  many  different  kinds  of  workmen  were  re- 
quired; the  one  who  cut  could  not  sew  and  vice  versa, 
so  a  lama  made  our  good  cloth  gowns,  a  hopa  made  up 
the  pulu,  while  a  Mongol  woman  made  the  under- 
jackets  and  collars,  putting  silk  stitching  on  them. 

Little  Charlie  was  well  supplied  with  clothing  made 
in  English  style,  having,  besides  a  little  fur  ja-ja,  or 
sleeveless  jacket,  a  fur  cape  and  shoes,  and  for  cere- 
monial occasions,  a  Tibetan  gown  and  sash.  No  one 
enjoyed  the  busy  time  as  well  as  he,  for  he  was  carried 
around  in  Eahim's  arms  during  shopping,  bargaining, 
etc.,  raising  his  voice  in  approbation  as  the  natives  be- 


TOWARD   THE   TIBETAK   CAPITAL     201 

came  excited  over  a  transaction,  and  taking  a  general 
delight  in  the  entire  proceedings. 

On  April  5  we  had  an  interesting  visit  from  the 
Kor-luk  pei-si,  who  is,  so  the  Mongols  informed  us, 
the  biggest  prince  in  the  "Wu  Ts'aidam,  his  dominions 
lying  four  days  north  from  Barong,  the  place  through 
which  caravans  go  to  Lhasa.  He  was  a  tall,  rather 
well  built  man  with  the  true  Mongolian  type  of  face, 
well  dressed,  with  a  turban  of  raw  dark-red  silk  wound 
in  yards  around  his  head.  He  had  about  fifty  Mongols 
with  him,  including  many  women,  among  whom  was 
the  Achi  of  the  prince,  but  whether  she  was  his  wife 
or  not,  we  could  not  clearly  find  out.  The  women  were 
tall,  two  or  three  of  them  young  and  very  good  looking, 
and  all  were  dressed  in  new  sheepskin  with  borders 
of  red  cloth  around  the  bottom  and  up  the  side.  The 
right  arms  hung  free  from  the  gowns,  displaying  under- 
jackets  of  white,  with  green  cloth  trimming  stitched 
in  many-colored  bright  silk  thread,  while  strings  of 
beads  from  one  earring  to  the  other  fell  down  to  the 
bosom.  A  beaten  silver  wine  bottle  with  screw  top,  and 
amulets  hung  in  front  of  the  gown.  The  hands  were 
bedecked  with  rings  set  in  coral  and  stones,  the  head 
was  crowned  with  a  small  hat  with  white  lamb  on  the 
brim,  and  a  red  tassel  surmounting  the  peaked  crown, 
giving  a  coquettish,  graceful  air  to  their  persons.  They 
all  enjoyed  their  visit  very  much,  the  peals  of  laughter 
at  Charlie,  the  sewing  machine,  and  some  little  dolls, 
adding  to  the  enjoyment  of  all.  The  chief  was  so 
anxious  to  have  a  pair  of  hutsi  sewed  on  the  machine, 
that  he  sent  a  man  to  the  street  to  bring  the  cloth,  but 


202  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

on  his  return  no  one  could  cut  them  out,  so  we  gave  him 
a  pair  of  Mr.  Eijnhart's  in  return  for  the  cloth  and 
he  presented  us  with  a  piece  of  pulu  (a  piece  is  usually 
ten  lengths  from  the  finger  tips  of  one  outstretched 
arm  to  those  of  the  other),  and  a  lump  of  sugar  from 
India  by  way  of  Lhasa.  This  chief  hired  for  us  two 
camels  to  carry  loads  as  far  as  the  Ts'aidam,  to  be 
left  with  the  Dzassak  of  Barong,  each  one  to  carry 
240  catties,  the  two  to  cost  ten  taels,  worth  at  that 
time  seven  dollars.  Tliat  night  we  worked  until  mid- 
night, sewing  bags  for  grain,  and  packing  two  boxes 
which  contained,  among  other  things,  over  four  hundred 
Tibetan  Gospels,  and  three  hundred  of  Mrs.  Grimke's 
text  cards.  In  the  morning  early,  the  Mongols  came  for 
the  loads.  As  usual,  there  was  the  regular  grumbling 
at  the  weight,  a  pretence  at  giving  back  the  money 
because  the  Mongols'  scales  were  lighter  than  ours,  be- 
fore finally  the  camels  were  gently  made  to  kneel,  their 
burdens  were  tied  on,  and  off  went  the  first  of  our 
goods  into  the,  for  us,  unknown. 

As  we  appreciated  the  quiet  that  settled  down  upon 
our  courtyard  after  the  bustle  of  that  departure 
was  over,  our  hearts  had  a  thankful  yet  strange 
feeling,  as  we  spoke  of  the  kindness  the  native 
chiefs  had  invariably  shown  us,  and  of  the  fu- 
ture with  its  new  friends  and  surroundings;  while 
Ani,  good  old  soul,  congratulated  us  on  the  great  saving 
these  camels  would  be  to  our  horses  as  far  as  the 
Ts'aidam.  Nothing  was  too  much  trouble  for  her  to 
do  in  the  way  of  helping  us,  and  oftentimes  tears  would 
bedim  her  eyes  as  she  looked  at  me  and  baby,  who 


TOWAED   THE  TIBETAN   CAPITAL     203 

always  laughed  at  her;  perhaps  thinking  of  her  loneli- 
ness after  we  were  gone,  perhaps  of  the  possibility  of 
our  not  returning  to  Tankar,  and  even  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  life  in  the  far  interior.  My  heart  sometimes 
overflows  as  I  think  of  the  love  and  tenderness  of  these 
dark-faced  women,  and  wish  it  were  within  my  power 
to  do  more  for  them,  to  bring  them  out  of  the  condition 
in  which  they  live  into  the  liberty  which  the  gospel 
brings  to  woman  wherever  it  is  known.  But  we  had 
to  hurry  with  more  preparations,  and  by  May  20, 
we  were  ready  to  leave  our  home,  where  the  greatest 
gladness  had  been  ours,  where  our  mail  had  come  to  us 
regularly,  where  bright,  long-loved  blossoms  had  added 
joy  and  sweetness  to  our  labor  of  love  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  launch  out  into  new  places  away  from  friends 
and  associations,  as  well  as  the  possibility  of  getting 
letters  and  papers  from  the  homeland.  We  had 
deemed  it  wise  to  give  up  our  house,  over  whose  owner- 
ship there  had  been  a  lawsuit,  the  result  of  which 
made  it  unsafe  for  us  to  retain  it  during  our  absence; 
and  we  rented  three  rooms  in  another  courtyard  where 
we  stored  our  sewing  machine,  some  books,  and  other 
things  we  did  not  want  to  take  with  us,  the  landlord 
promising  that  we  could  have  the  whole  house  upon  our 
return.  This  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  move  the 
things  to  be  left,  at  the  same  time  that  we  were  doing 
the  packing  of  what  we  wanted  to  take,  thereby  increas- 
ing our  work. 

Our  greatest  difficulty  was  the  securing  of  two  men 
to  accompany  us  on  the  journey,  and  for  a  long  time 
it  seemed  as  if  no  one  suitable  would  offer  for  service. 


204  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

everyone  having  a  sincere  fear  of  perils  in  the  interior, 
which  had  been  much  augmented  by  the  tales  told  the 
year  before  by  the  men  of  Captain  Wellby's  expedition. 
However,  through  real  friends  we  secured  two  men  who 
could  speak  Tibetan,  Mongolian  and  Chinese.  The 
older,  named  Ja-si,  was  very  dark,  tall,  neat  in  his  attire, 
an  earring  in  his  left  ear,  and  a  great  swagger  in  his 
walk;  while  he  knew  everything  about  everybody  and 
every  place,  and  had  no  fear  of  going  wherever  the  for- 
eign teacher  wished  him  to.  The  younger,  named  Ga- 
chuen-tsi,  was  a  relative  of  an  old  Mongol  friend  of 
ours,  and  was  a  short,  fat-faced,  laughing  boy  of  twenty- 
two,  always  happy,  except  when  Ja-si,  of  whom  he 
stood  in  awe,  influenced  him.  Of  the  three  we  liked 
him  best,  his  disposition  was  so  bright.  Eahim,  who 
was  a  sort  of  overseer,  was  an  adept  at  dealing  with 
Tibetans  from  the  interior,  Ja-si  had  had  a  Fan-tsi 
wife,  and  so  was  perfect  in  his  manner  towards  them, 
while  Ga-chuen-tsi  was  more  at  ease  with  the  Mongols, 
which  probably  accounted  for  his  cheerful,  smooth 
manner.  We  provided  them  all  with  clothing  and  bed- 
ding, as  usual,  giving  the  relatives  of  the  two  men  we 
had  just  hired  a  portion  of  their  wages,  which  were  to 
be  four  taels  a  month  with  the  understanding  that  if 
we  sent  them  back,  we  were  to  give  them  each  a  horse 
to  ride  and  food,  with  a  gun  if  they  served  us  well,  all 
of  which  was  duly  put  into  an  agreement  signed  by 
pao-ren,  "  security." 

Our  supply  of  food  was  mostly  native  and  consisted 
of  the  following : 


616  catties 

490 

150 

300 

140 

40 

40 

20 

TOWARD   THE  TIBETAN  CAPITAL     205 

Tsamba  (barley  meal). 

Wheat  flour. 

Kua  mien   (vermicelli). 

Eice. 

Barley. 

Butter. 

Brick  Tea. 

Sugar. 

Besides  these  native  supplies  we  had  some  stores  in- 
tended mainly  for  Charlie,  such  as  milk,  sago,  tapioca, 
cornstarch,  arrowroot,  oatmeal,  etc.,  with  some  meat 
extract  and  soups.  The  grain,  flour,  and  rice  were  put 
into  bags  made  of  white  drilling,  inside  coarse  native 
woolen  sacks,  just  the  size  to  constitute  one  half  a  load. 
The  Icua  mien,  stores  and  goods  for  bartering,  were 
put  into  boxes,  the  latter  consisting  of  buttons,  needles, 
silk,  silver  and  gold  thread,  cloth,  khatas,  otter  fur  and 
boots.  Our  drugs,  clothing,  bedding,  instruments,  books 
and  sundries  constituted  the  remainder  of  the  loads, 
except  the  tents,  of  which  we  had  two,  one  small, 
very  warm  white  one,  and  one  large  dark  blue  one,  with 
iron  tent-pegs  for  each.  Such  was  our  equipment  when 
the  last  bale  was  put  up  and  we  were  on  the  eve  of 
leaving  the  gates  of  Tankar. 


CHAPTER  XII 

FAREWELL    TO    TANKAB 

Leaving  Faithful  Friends — Our  Caravan  Moves  Off — 
Through  the  Grass  Country  to  the  Desert — Two  Mon- 
gol Guides. 

With  the  help  of  our  two  men,  our  preparations 
were  nearly  all  complete  at  daybreak  on  the  twentieth 
of  May.  There  remained  yet  one  horse  to  buy,  and 
for  that  of  course,  we  had  to  pay  double  price,  as  every- 
body knew  we  were  in  a  hurry.  After  breakfast  the 
last  remains  of  our  housekeeping  at  Tankar,  the  big 
pots,  were  removed  from  our  clay  range  and  taken  over 
to  the  storehouse  which  we  had  rented  for  two  years. 
Mr.  Rijnhart  and  Mr.  Uang,  a  Chinese  merchant  from 
the  eastern  gate,  proceeded,  as  a  final  precaution  against 
thieves,  to  seal  up  the  doors  and  windows.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Uang  were  both  profuse  in  their  demonstrations 
of  kindness  and  solicitude  for  our  welfare,  the  latter, 
just  before  our  departure,  bringing  us  a  delicious,  re- 
freshing dish  of  home-made  m'ien.  Other  friends  fol- 
lowed with  gifts  of  various  kinds,  principally  food  stuffs 
to  be  used  on  the  road.  Ani  and  Doma,  their  eyes  moist 
with  tears,  attentive  to  the  very  last  and  unwilling  to 
yield  to  any  in  the  matter  of  bestowing  mementos, 

206 


FAEEWELL  TO  TANKAK  207 

brought  us  a  set  of  artistically  woven  straps  with  which 
to  fasten  the  chopsticks  to  our  girdles.  One  by  one  the 
horses  were  saddled  and  led  out  into  the  street  where 
many  willing  hands  were  waiting  to  adjust  the  loads. 
All  along  the  street  the  gateways  were  filled  with  women 
and  children  who  had  come  out  to  watch  the  imusual 
scene.  No  greater  interest  could  have  been  manifested 
if  we  had  been  high  officials  or  great  Buddhist  digni- 
taries leaving  on  an  important  mission  or  pilgrimage 
to  some  distant  shrine. 

As  soon  as  all  the  animals  were  loaded  the  caravan 
began  to  move  slowly  toward  the  western  gate,  and 
within  a  few  moments  seventeen  of  our  ponies  and  our 
three  men  disappeared  from  view.  Mr.  Rijnhart  and  I 
remained  behind,  knowing  that  we  could  easily  overtake 
them,  while  dear  old  faithful  Ani  brought  us  one  more 
pot  of  hot  tea,  of  which  we  partook  with  full  hearts. 
Then  we  visited  once  more  each  room  of  the  home  to 
which  we  had  become  so  attached,  as  if  we  had  a  sort 
of  half  unconscious  presentiment  that  we  would  for  a 
long  time,  and  pdrhaps  never,  enter  it  again.  As  the 
term  for  which  our  rent  was  paid  had  not  yet  expired, 
we  locked  the  door  with  a  key  the  landlord  had  given 
us,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  his  opponent  in  the  law- 
suit, who  stood  ready  to  rush  in  the  moment  we  were 
gone,  and  claim  the  house  on  the  principle  that  "  pos- 
session is  nine-tenths  of  the  law."  Then  taking  an 
affectionate  farewell  of  our  Chinese  friends,  many  of 
whom  we  had  learned  to  love  sincerely,  and  followed  by 
the  more  demonstrative  Tibetans  and  Mongols,  men, 
women  and  children,  we  sadly  marched  toward  the  great 


208  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

gate  which  all  the  time  we  were  dreading,  as  we  realized 
more  vividly  at  every  step  how  many  devoted  friends  it 
would  shut  away  from  us.  One  man  carried  baby,  and 
all  remarked  how  white  the  little  hands  looked  around 
his  dark  neck.  Doma  rushed  away  crying,  the  last 
good-byes  were  said  at  the  city  gate  and  we  sped  to 
overtake  our  caravan.  Such  a  heart  wrench !  We 
scarcely  realized  the  bond  there  was  between  us  and 
the  natives  until  we  came  to  part,  and  then  how  the 
tears  flowed !  The  future  was  veiled,  or  we  might  have 
hesitated — it  would  have  been  but  human — and  stayed 
indefinitely  in  dear  old  Tankar. 

N6ver  had  the  country  around  about  seemed  so  beau- 
tiful. Vegetable  gardens  and  harvest  fields  were  green ; 
the  hills  presented  a  different  shade  of  the  same  re- 
freshing color,  and  the  river  was  bright  and  shimmering 
in  the  distance.  A  blue  haze  hung  over  the  mountain 
tops  which  beckoned  us  on,  holding  out  to  us  hopes  of 
brightness  in  the  new  fields  of  labor  we  would  reach 
in  the  regions  beyond,  which  would,  in  a  measure,  com- 
pensate for  the  sorrowful  partings  of  the  day.  Suddenly 
our  thoughts  were  snatched  from  the  future  to  the  pres- 
ent by  our  coming  in  sight  of  one  of  our  horses  which, 
violently  objecting  to  his  load,  finally  succeeded  in 
kicking  it  off,  and  smashing  the  saddle.  This  horse 
afterwards  became  Ja-si's,  as  he  would  never  allow  a 
load  to  be  put  on  his  back,  but  was  as  docile  as  a  child 
when  ridden.  The  experience  of  that  day  was  that  of 
every  caravan  on  the  first  day  of  its  march;  there  was 
the  usual  trouble  with  the  horses  and  almost  endless 
readjusting  of  baggage  and  saddles. 


FAEEWELL  TO  TAN"KAR  209 

Skirting  the  Hsi-ho  we  passed  the  Tsa-ta-si,  where 
lived  the  lama  who  had  made  some  of  our  clothing,  and 
reached  at  5 :30  the  village  of  Pa-uen-chuan-tsi,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  approached  by  a  cantilever 
bridge.  Here  we  pitched  our  tents  which  Ga-chuen-tsi 
endeavored  to  make  look  as  gorgeous  as  possible,  as  his 
people  lived  in  the  village  and  he  wished  to  present  a 
good  appearance.  We  had  a  time  of  feasting  and  an- 
other series  of  good-byes  accompanied  with  presents 
of  potatoes,  cakes,  bread  and  milk,  with  peas  and  straw 
for  our  horses.  This  is  the  very  last  cultivated  land, 
all  the  country  beyond  being  tsao-ti  or  grass  country. 

As  we  were  to  spend  Sunday  at  Gomba  Soba*  with 
friends,  we  started  next  morning  and  in  a  short  time 
reached  the  lamasery,  the  same  one  we  sneaked  past  on 
our  proposed  visit  to  the  lake  with  Ishinima  in  1895.  I 
may  say  in  passing  that  the  lamasery  is  rightly  located 
by  Mr.  W.  W.  Eockhill  in  his  "  Land  of  the  Lamas  " 
and  that  Capt.  Wellby  is  quite  wrong  in  his  attempt  to 
correct  him.  Here  was  the  home  of  Tsanga-Fuyeh, 
the  biggest  "  living  buddha  "  in  the  lamasery,  who  had 
been  so  instrumental  in  securing  friends  for  us  through 
recommending  us  as  doctors,  and  the  dear  old  man  came 
to  our  tent  to  visit  us  accompanied  by  his  young  lama 
acolyte,  bringing  a  parcel  of  sultanas  and  a  hhata.  He 
warned  us  about  robbers  and  passes,  and  exhorted  us  to 
hurry  back  to  Tankar  before  he  died,  that  he  might 
see  us  again  in  this  life.  He  also  gave  us  a  beautiful 
tsamba  basin,  and  a  horse  already  saddled.     In  appre- 

*  This  lamasery  is  also  known  as  Gomba  Soma.  "  Soma,"  and  in  some 
districts  "  Soba"  IS  the  word  for  "new"  and  "Gomba"  means  "lam* 
asery," 


210  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

elation  of  his  courtesy  we  gave  him  a  feather  pillow, 
which  he  thought  was  a  most  wonderful  invention.  For 
a  while  he  seemed  utterly  to  lose  himself  in  the  delight 
of  shaking  it  up  and  down  till  it  swelled  to  its  utmost 
limit,  then  sitting  on  it  and  reducing  it  again.  Pei- 
Fuyeh,  a  "  living  buddha  "  of  the  same  rank,  had  his 
treasurer  living  at  Gomba  Soba,  and  this  man,  who 
had  long  been  a  friend  of  ours,  brought  us  a  large  lump 
of  loaf  sugar,  a  parcel  of  dates  and  a  little  enamel 
pitcher  for  Charlie.  Sunday  evening  a  party  of  travel- 
ers camped  beside  us,  consisting  of  the  wife  and  young 
son  of  a  Wang-yeh  of  the  Mongols,  another  ^longol 
woman  with  her  little  girl,  and  three  men.  They  had 
nineteen  mules  and  horses  and  invited  us  to  travel  with 
them.  The  two  children  were  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  dressed  in  cloth,  the  boy's  clothing  having  a  pre- 
dominance of  yellow  indicating  his  rank.  They  were 
betrothed,  and  were  being  taken  to  Lhasa  to  worship 
and  be  blessed  by  the  Dalai  Lama  before  entering  life 
together.  It  was  refreshing  to  see  them  enjoy  play,  and 
rather  pitiful  to  see  them  tied  by  their  feet  to  the  stir- 
rups when  about  to  ford  rivers,  for  fear  of  a  dizziness 
overcoming  them,  causing  them  to  fall  off.  The  boy's 
mother  was  intelligent,  well  dressed  and  very  clean, 
even  washing  her  teeth,  though  her  finger  was  her  only 
brush. 

The  Icopas  broke  camp  before  daylight,  traveling  a 
few  hours  and  then  allowing  their  animals  the  whole 
day  to  graze.  Although  we  did  not  start  with  them 
each  morning,  yet  we  always  overtook  them  and  were 
camped  alongside  them  every  day.    The  Mongol  women 


FAREWELL  TO  TANKAR  211 

would  invite  me  and  Charlie  into  their  tent  to  rest 
and  drink  tea,  while  their  men  would  help  us  to  unload 
our  animals  and  pitch  our  tents.  Natives  are  adepts 
at  selecting  beautiful  camping  spots,  and  when  we 
would  see  the  encampments  of  the  Jcopas  in  the  dis- 
tance, the  white  tents  of  various  size  and  shape  with 
hundreds  of  horses  and  mules  grazing  about,  the  lux- 
uriant grass  and  low  rolling  hills,  the  poetry  of  it  all 
struck  responsive  chords  in  our  hearts.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon the  men  from  the  various  tents  went  out  and 
drove  in  their  mules  and  horses,  to  receive  their  appor- 
tionment of  split  peas.  How  tame  some  of  the  mules 
were,  going  up  to  the  tent  doors  and  sniffing  about, 
and  asking  in  as  plain  a  manner  as  possible  for  food. 
By  and  by  they  were  tethered  and  saddled  ready  for 
the  morning,  then  the  men  gathered  about  drinking 
their  tea,  and,  as  dusk  settled  down  near  us  all,  their 
voices  were  heard  from  near  and  far  chanting  prayers, 
accompanied  by  the  ringing  of  bells.  Then  quiet 
reigned  and  everyone  slept  well. 

The  average  march  the  first  days  was  twelve  miles, 
our  road  going  through  a  wide  valley,  then  along  the 
Hsi-ho  for  ten  miles,  crossing  a  tributary  and  on  for 
thirty  miles,  where  we  camped  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  a  little  lake,  really  a  bay,  cut  off  from  the  Koko-nor 
by  drifting  sand,  and  called  Baga-nor.  The  country 
was  on  the  whole  grassy  and  well  watered,  affording 
the  nomads  good  pasturage.  Many  Mongol  tents  were 
dotted  on  either  side  of  the  road  in  the  sheltered  places 
and  wherever  the  green  fodder  was  most  plentiful. 
Some  Tibetans  were  also  camped  near  the  streams  that 


212  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

flowed  into  the  Koko-nor.  Crossing  the  Balema  gol, 
we  camped  again  on  the  shores  of  the  Koko-nor,  next 
day  crossed  the  Iki  Olan,  prohahly  the  same  as  is  called 
Ulen  Muren  by  Rockhill,  though  the  latter  name  the 
natives  do  not  seem  to  know  at  all.  On  Sunday,  much 
to  our  regret,  we  were  obliged  to  part  with  the  kopas, 
they  going  on  at  their  usual  early  hour,  and  we  re- 
maining behind  to  rest  for  the  day.  The  people  from 
the  tents  of  the  nomads  in  the  neighborhood  came 
about  us  freely,  and  we  did  some  doctoring,  for  which 
we  got  a  fat  sheep.  "We  also  gave  away  some  Tibetan 
Scriptures  and  text-cards.  No  missionary  had  ever 
been  in  this  locality  before.  The  next  stage  of  our 
journey  led  us  through  one  of  the  supposed  robber  dis- 
tricts, and  we  did  not  feel  any  too  comfortable  when 
we  saw  that  we  were  being  spied  by  four  men ;  suddenly 
they  disappeared  over  a  hill,  and  after  a  little  while 
reappeared  over  another  hill  near  the  road,  heavily 
armed.  On  seeing  our  men  ready  with  their  rifles  to 
defend  our  stuff,  they  rode  up,  asked  a  few  simple 
questions  and  passed  on.  Shortly  afterward  we  met  the 
chief  of  the  Wortug  Tibetans  who  had  a  large  cara- 
van, and  he  said  the  four  men  were  robbers.  We 
crossed  the  bed  of  the  Buha  gol,  the  most  important 
river  in  the  district,  although  we  found  it  nearly  dry, 
and  camped  on  one  of  its  tributaries.  Here  we  saw 
large  herds  of  kiang  or  wild  mules,  called  by  the  Chi- 
nese ie  mail  or  wild  horses.  They  are  not  more  than 
fourteen  hands  in  height,  and  are  beautifully  colored, 
light  brown  on  the  back,  gradually  fading  into  white 
on  the  belly.     They  have  long  ears  and  tails  like  an 


FAREWELL  TO  TANKAR  213 

ordinary  mule,  are  always  found  in  herds  and  families, 
and,  when  trotting  or  galloping,  go  in  single  file.  The 
animals  were  exceedingly  bold,  coming  quite  near  our 
tents  and  mingling  with  our  horses.  They  are  orna- 
mental rather  than  useful,  the  Tibetans  in  vain  hav- 
ing tried  to  tame  them  for  domestic  use. 

In  this  spot  where  the  grass  was  so  good  we  halted 
for  a  rest,  and  Rahim  provided  us  with  a  most  refresh- 
ing repast  in  the  shape  of  twelve  fishes  which  he  had 
caught  with  his  hands  in  the  stream.  A  Tibetan  came 
two  days'  journey  offering  us  a  large  piece  of  green 
denim  in  exchange  for  medicine.  He  had  heard  from 
other  Tibetans  that  some  wonderful  doctors  were  pass- 
ing through,  and  did  not  want  to  miss  an  opportunity 
of  consulting  us. 

The  next  part  of  the  road  took  us  through  a  part 
of  the  country  with  poor  grass,  and  over  a  pass,  at  the 
top  of  which  was  a  large  oho,  a  heap  of  stones,  with 
prayer-flags  flying  from  the  top.  On  nearly  all  the 
passes  these  ohos  are  to  be  found.  In  all  probability 
they  were  originally  intended  simply  as  landmarks  to 
point  out  the  road,  as  smaller  mud  ones  are  still  in  use 
for  that  purpose;  but  the  mountain  olos  have  long 
since  taken  on  a  religious  signiflcance.  Whenever  the 
natives  reach  the  oho  at  the  top  of  a  difficult  pass  they 
all  dismount,  each  throws  a  stone  on  the  heap,  and  pass- 
ing to  the  right  of  it,  all  join  in  chanting  their  grati- 
tude to  the  god  of  the  mountain  for  helping  them  to 
ascend.  We  have  frequently  seen  our  men  observe  this 
somewhat  romantic  ceremony,  and  they  were  much  per- 
plexed that  we  did  not  follow  their  example.    All  that 


»U  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

day  we  searched  in  vain  for  water,  and,  when  emerging 
from  a  valley,  rejoiced  to  behold  a  sparkling  lake,  but 
it  turned  out  to  be  the  Tala-dabesun-nor,  a  salt  lake, 
nearly  dry.  Deviating  from  our  direct  southwesterly 
route,  we  found  good  grass  and  fresh  water  about  eight 
miles  north  of  the  lake,  and  learned  that  the  apparent 
drought  was  caused  by  the  natives  having  drained  off 
all  the  water  for  the  purpose  of  irrigation.  This  dis- 
trict would  be  wealthy  but  for  an  inroad  of  southern 
Tibetans  probably  from  across  the  Yellow  Eiver,  who 
drove  off  50,000  head  of  cattle  and  sheep  at  one  sweep, 
reducing  the  entire  settlement  to  poverty.  Knowing 
that  we  were  neariug  a  marsh  and  that  our  trail  was 
not  any  too  distinct,  we  hired  two  Mongols,  and,  as  is 
the  custom  in  this  part,  paid  their  wages  in  advance 
to  a  middleman,  a  native  doctor,  who  stood  as  guaran- 
tee for  the  good  conduct  and  fidelity  of  the  men.  They 
were  to  take  us  to  Barong.  We  learned  that  the  Tala- 
dabesun-nor  is  called  thus  to  distinguish  it  from  Serkin 
Dabesun-nor;  the  former  belongs  to  Tsing  hai  Wang's 
district,  the  latter  to  the  Korluk  Bei-si  district. 

The  two  Mongols  were  types,  one  of  them  an  old 
man,  thin,  sharp  featured,  and  very  talkative  and  agree- 
able, the  other  a  lama  who  had  a  wife  whom  he  had 
stolen  from  another  man  near  Barong.  Therefore  he 
was  anxious  not  to  pass  through  her  native  settlement. 
He  was  young,  round-faced,  with  shaven  head,  and  kept 
to  himself,  counting  beads,  and  burning  scapulae  to 
see  what  fortune  had  in  store.  Whenever  he  saw  peo- 
ple, he  disappeared  so  as  not  to  be  seen  by  them  for 
fear,  we  presumed,  of  being  recognized.     Our  Mongols 


FAEEWELL  TO  TANKAR  215 

at  first  insisted  upon  going  a  southern  road  to  Barong, 
saying  it  was  shorter  and  there  was  not  so  much  dan- 
ger of  being  lost  in  the  marsh;  but  fearing  the  sudden 
appearance  of  marauding  bands  of  Tibetans  from  south 
of  the  Yellow  River,  we  decided  upon  the  northern 
road.  This  road  led  up  towards  a  pass  named  Shara 
Kuto,  and  when  about  ten  miles  from  the  top  we 
stopped  where  there  was  good  grass,  and  water  flowed 
in  a  small  stream  intermittently;  one  moment  there 
was  water  and  the  next  moment  there  was  none.  The 
people  there  were  well-to-do,  the  women  wearing  their 
sheepskins  in  the  early  morning,  and  when  the  sun 
grew  warmer  putting  on  their  pulu  gowns.  I  felt  sorry 
for  one  poor  young  woman  who  had  the  Mongol  head- 
dress, and  upon  asking  her  how  that  came,  she  replied 
that  she  was  a  Mongol  whom  a  Tibetan  had  secured  for 
a  wife.  The  morality  of  the  people  just  here  was  at  a 
lower  ebb  than  in  many  other  places,  the  women  espe- 
cially acting,  even  in  our  presence,  in  an  unseemly 
manner.  Next  day  we  were  much  refreshed  by  seeing 
evergreen  trees,  the  first  trees  of  any  kind  we  had  seen 
since  the  day  we  left  home,  and  we  were  also  rejoiced 
to  camp  on  level  ground  on  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Dulan  gol,  in  sight  of  the  Dulan  Si  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  while  to  the  northeast  was  the  Tsahan- 
nor,  a  small  lake  hidden  from  sight  in  its  sheltered 
spot  enclosed  by  three  hills.  Dulan  Kao  is  a  very  small 
cluster  of  houses,  composed  mostly  of  lamas'  homes  and 
the  residence  of  the  prince  of  the  Tsing  hai,  all  built 
of  mud  brick  surrounded  by  walls.  The  trail  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  is  covered  with  stones,  but  Mr. 


216  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Eijnhart  and  Kahim  pursued  that  road  while  our  cara- 
van stayed  on  the  south,  crossing  later  and  camping  on 
the  north  bank,  where  there  was  good  grass,  and  plenty 
of  the  most  bloodthirsty  mosquitoes.  Dulan  Kao  as  well 
as  being  the  capital  of  the  wang-yeh's  dominions  seemed 
also  to  be  just  inside  the  boundary  of  the  mosquito  dis- 
trict, for  the  Mongols  had  told  us  blood-curdling  tales 
of  those  pests  when  we  passed  the  village,  and  we  found 
them  only  too  true. 

We  were  now  facing  the  famous  marsh,  where  travel 
was  impossible  unless  along  narrow  trails,  which  were 
often  not  to  be  found  except  by  the  help  of  the  guides. 
The  northeast  part  of  the  plain  was  cultivated,  wa- 
tered by  irrigation  ditches ;  the  southern  was  the  marsh 
which  we  found  quite  dry  along  the  trail,  and  only  had 
difficulty  once  crossing  a  small  stream,  although  our 
Mongols  assured  us  that  had  it  not  been  dry  weather 
we  might  have  found  it  impassable.  There  were  two 
lakes  in  this  large  plain,  between  which  our  road  lay; 
the  larger  one  was  Serkin  Dabesun-nor,  the  western 
half  of  which  was  dry  salt  and  saltpetre.  It  receives  its 
water  supply  from  the  Katsa  gol  flowing  from  Dulan- 
nor,  and  another  stream  from  the  west.  The  Dulan 
nor  is  fed  by  the  Dulan  gol  which  flows  past  Dulan 
Kao.  After  passing  the  marsh  we  halted  about  a  mile 
north  of  the  Timurte  mountains  and  south  of  the 
Dabesun-nor,  where  we  came  across  a  camp  recently 
occupied  by  the  Jcopas.  Here  we  found  only  brackish 
water.  Our  route  continued  in  a  south  southwest  di- 
rection, mountain  ranges  on  either  side  of  us,  at  first 


FAREWELL  TO  TAXKAE  217 

of  dolerite,  then  pudding  stone,  changing  finally  into 
sand-hills,  some  of  them  very  high. 

The  sand-hills  marked  the  beginning  of  the  desert 
of  Koko  beileh,  too  barren  to  support  any  population, 
but  roamed  over  by  herds  of  kiang  and  antelopes. 
When  we  came  within  sight  of  the  bed  of  the  Tsa-tsan 
gol  which  was  then  dry,  the  load  fell  off  one  of  our 
horses,  and  the  animal  exulting  in  the  unexpected  free- 
dom, scampered  away  in  the  direction  of  home.  As 
we  sat  by  the  roadside  waiting  until  Eahim  should  bring 
him  back,  the  guides  told  us  there  was  water  around  the 
corner  of  the  last  hill  to  the  right  directly  away  from 
the  road.  When  the  pony  was  caught  and  his  load  re- 
adjusted we  crossed  the  river  bed  where  the  road  was 
not  recognizable,  and  reached  Talin  Turgen,  where  we 
found  a  basin  of  bad  water  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  but 
abundance  of  grass  and  mosquitoes.  While  we  were 
striking  camp  the  next  morning  six  deer  suddenly 
darted  from  the  underbrush  near  us,  followed  shortly 
afterwards  by  a  bear.  We  were  all  mounted,  so  no  at- 
tention was  paid  to  the  deer,  but  Rahim  asked  per- 
mission to  have  a  shot  at  bruin,  which  being 
granted  he  started  in  pursuit,  followed  by  such  re- 
marks from  the  older  Mongol  as  "  No  good  will  come 
of  it.  Those  animals  are  not  to  be  touched."  We  saw 
the  boy  in  the  distance  dismount  and  tie  his  horse  to 
some  brush,  when  the  bear  returned,  as  we  afterwards 
saw,  for  her  cub,  whereupon  the  Mongol  jumped  off 
his  horse,  got  his  gun  ready  for  firing,  saying,  "  He  is 
coming,  he  is  coming;  we  will  all  be  killed,"  and  then 
told  us  a  story  of  eight  men  who  had  been  killed  by 


218  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

a  bear  because  one  of  them  had  attacked  him.  Just 
as  Mr.  Rijnhart  was  starting  to  Rahim's  rescue,  the 
two  bears  turned  and  made  off  with  rapid  strides  to- 
wards the  hills.  Eahim's  horse  had  run  away  and  he 
came  towards  us,  his  eyes  full  of  fear,  and  told  us  how 
the  "  wild  man  "  (the  Chinese  and  some  Mongols  call 
bears  ie-ren,  wild  men)  had  stood  up  and  looked  at 
him,  and  how  having  fired  all  his  cartridges  he  took 
his  sword  in  his  hand  and  crept  away.  He  never 
wanted  to  shoot  a  bear  afterwards.  The  old  Mongol 
carried  a  scar  as  a  result  of  the  episode,  for  in  dis- 
mounting quickly,  his  gun  had  struck  his  head  and 
made  a  deep  gash.  He  took  some  of  the  tinder  (scorched 
edelweiss,  a  fluffy  vegetable)  and  put  it  in  the  wound 
to  stop  the  bleeding. 

We  were  glad  to  find  a  pleasant  camping  ground  to 
the  right  of  the  road  on  the  banks  of  the  Sulim  gol  in 
which  was  the  best  water  we  had  for  days  and  along 
whose  banks  our  horses  found  good  green  grass.  Here 
our  lama-guide  deserted  us,  taking  off  with  him  the 
pot  and  food  the  two  of  them  expected  to  use  on  their 
return  journey.  Ergetsu,  the  next  camp,  was  an 
oasis  in  the  desert,  there  being  good  water  and  grass, 
but  the  march  the  day  following  was  through  weari- 
some sand  dunes  until  we  passed  the  Shara  gol,  where 
our  second  guide  deserted  us.  Happily  we  found  good 
water,  but  were  again  nearly  eaten  up  by  mosquitoes. 
From  this  pest  a  piece  of  fine  netting  saved  baby  and 
me,  while  Mr.  Rijnhart  kept  a  smoky  fire  all  the  time 
in  the  other  tent;  while  traveling  we  wore  Tchatas 
sewed  into  veils.     After  passing  the  Tso  gol  springs 


FAEEWELL  TO  TANKEE  219 

we  lost  our  way  and  went  on  and  on  through  a  very  wide 
dry  river  bed,  in  the  bottom  of  which  there  had  recently 
been  running  water,  but  which  was  now  covered  only 
with  red  earth.  Towards  dusk  a  small  party  of  Mon- 
gols, who  had  been  farming  over  the  hills  and  who 
were  moving  their  encampment  to  Barong,  stopped  be- 
side us.  They  told  us  that  the  dry  river  bed  was  that 
of  the  Bayan  gol,  in  crossing  which  Eockhill  had  ex- 
perienced such  difficulty  owing  to  the  mud.  At  their 
kind  invitation  we  followed  the  Mongols  to  their  camp 
along  a  road  which  led  through  a  brushwood  thicket 
in  which  bloomed  an  abundance  of  flowers  resembling 
spirea,  except  that  they  were  pink.  How  gladly  we 
plucked  them,  for  we  had  not  seen  a  flower  since  leaving 
Tankar.  The  Mongol  women  decked  their  hair  with 
them,  and  seemed  to  rejoice  with  us  that  the  desert 
and  all  its  barrenness  was  past  and  we  were  again  in 
the  midst  of  flowing  water,  green  grass  and  fresh  food. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN   THE   TS'aIDAM. 

The  Ts'aidam  and  its  People — Polyandry  and  Cruelty 
to  the  Aged — The  Dzassak  of  Barong — Celebration 
of  Baby's  Birthday — Missionary  Prospects. 

We  had  now  arrived  in  the  Ts'aidam,  a  large  plain 
some  six  hundred  miles  from  east  to  west  lying  north 
of  the  Kuenlun  Mountains.  It  is  called  Wu  Ts'aidam 
by  the  Chinese  (Wu  means  five)  because  it  is  divided 
into  five  states,  Taichiner,  Korluk,  Koko,  Dsun  and 
Barong.  The  small  district  of  Shang  east  of  Barong 
is  also  usually  included  in  the  Ts'aidam,  although  po- 
litically it  is  distinct.  It  was  given  by  the  Mongol 
princes  to  the  Dalai  Lama  and  is  governed  by  a  rep- 
resentative from  Trashil'unpo  who '  is  changed  every 
five  years.  The  other  states  are  governed  under  the 
authority  of  the  Sining  Amban  by  Mongol  princes, 
each  of  whom  receives  annually  a  government  grant  of 
from  one  hundred  taels  and  four  pieces  of  satin,  to 
twelve  hundred  taels  and  eight  pieces  of  satin.  The 
satin  is  called  mangtuan,  being  of  a  special  design  orna- 
mented with  yellow  dragons  and  used  exclusively  by  the 
chiefs,  and  to  adorn  temples.  It  is  worth  from  twelve 
to  twenty  taels  a  piece,  according  to  the  quality.    The 

820 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  221 

population  of  the  five  states  is  estimated  at  from  8,000 
to  16,000,  for  the  most  part  Western  Mongols,  but 
among  them  are  found  many  Eastern  Mongol  lamas 
who  are  here  allowed  to  have  wives,  a  privilege  which 
is  denied  them  in  Inner  Tibet  or  Mongolia.  The 
Ts'aidam  Mongols,  as  far  as  we  were  able  to  ascertain, 
practise  polyandry,  and  marriages  are  often  arranged 
for  a  limited  length  of  time.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
traders,  Chinese,  Mongolian  or  Tibetan,  to  secure  wives 
for  a  certain  period  of  time,  perhaps  six  months,  a 
year  or  two  years,  and  when  they  go  to  their  own  homes 
again,  the  children  are  left  with  the  so-called  wife.  As 
a  rule  the  Chinese  look  down  upon  the  very  loose  mar- 
riage laws  prevailing  among  these  nomads,  but  in 
Tankar  a  respectable  Chinese  woman  told  me  that 
Chinamen  often  rented  or  leased  their  wives  to  other 
men  for  a  time  varying  from  one  day  to  several  years. 
Though  this  may  be  done  in  that  locality  I  have  no 
idea  that  it  is  a  usual  occurrence  in  China,  and  is  prob- 
ably a  custom  born  of  contact  with  the  nomads.  There 
is  another  thing  which  stamps  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Ts'aidam  very  low  in  the  scale  of  civilization  and  hu- 
manity, and  reveals  their  need  of  the  socially  uplifting 
influence  of  Christianity,  and  that  is  their  treatment  of 
the  aged.  In  many  cases  the  old  people  as  soon  as  they 
are  no  longer  able  to  work  are  ejected  from  the  house 
or  tent,  and  compelled  to  eke  out  their  remaining  days 
in  a  cave  or  on  a  dunghill,  where  they  soon  succumb 
from  exposure  or  lack  of  nourishment.  For  most  cases 
of  such  treatment  the  daughter-in-law  is  responsible. 
Almost  immediately  upon  entering  the  home  she  as- 


222  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

sumes  a  tyrannical  authority  over  her  husband's  pa- 
rents, making  it  exceedingly  uncomfortable  for  them, 
denying  them  the  necessities  of  life,  and  never  ceasing 
until  in  exasperation  her  husband  is  goaded  on  to  the 
cruel  deed.  Many  of  the  natives  speaking  with  us  on 
this  matter,  said  how  much  better  it  was  to  have 
daughters  than  sons,  for  the  parents  who  had  daughters 
only,  would  not  run  the  same  risk  of  being  cast  off  in 
their  helplessness  at  the  instigation  of  a  daughter-in- 
law.  In  strong  contrast  to  the  treatment  of  the  aged 
by  the  Ts'aidam  Mongols  is  the  filial  piety  of  the  Chi- 
nese, which  is  occasionally  carried  to  excess,  the  old 
people  being  allowed  the  role  of  tyrant,  sometimes 
beating  their  grown-up  sons  and  daughters  severely 
with  no  resentment  or  retaliation  from  the  latter. 

The  Mongols  are  exceedingly  polite  in  their  way. 
When  two  strangers  meet  they  hold  out  both  hands  with 
the  palms  turned  upward,  and  make  a  graceful  bow  ut- 
tering the  salutation  Amur  sambina.  A  present  is  ac- 
knowledged simply  by  holding  it  up  to  the  forehead; they 
have  no  words  to  express  thanks.  Their  religion  is  as 
conspicuous  as  their  politeness.  While  attending  to 
their  daily  duties,  whether  drawing  water,  tending  the 
flocks,  gathering  argols,  churning  butter,  or  whatever 
it  may  be,  they  never  cease  to  mumble  prayers.  Be- 
sides this,  each  settlement  supports  a  number  of  lamas 
who  are  engaged  to  chant  for  them,  and  thus  assist 
them  in  the  accumulation  of  merit.  These  Mongols 
seemed  quite  averse  to  accepting  the  copies  of  the  Gos- 
pels in  Tibetan  which  we  offered  them,  but  the  kopas, 
who  were  then  trading  in  the  district  through  which 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  223 

we  passed,  took  them  with  great  eagerness  and  apparent 
pleasure.  Most  of  the  Mongols  here  are  nomads,  al- 
though they  do  some  farming,  raising  all  the  barley 
they  require.  Whether  they  engage  in  agriculture  or 
are  pure  nomads  they  must  pay  a  certain  tithe  of  their 
income  in  taxes  to  their  chief.  They  dwell  in  tents; 
the  houses  which  compose  the  villages  are  of  a  very  in- 
ferior order  and  are  used  mostly  as  storerooms.  The 
village  of  Barong,  the  home  of  the  dzassak,  or  chief,  is 
composed  of  a  few  mud-brick  dwellings  and  is  situated 
about  eight  miles  from  the  foot  of  the  Kuenlun  moun- 
tains. The  food  of  the  Mongols  here  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Tibetans,  and  like  the  latter  they  make  wine, 
and  also  a  sort  of  koumiss  from  mare's  milk. 

They  are  good-natured,  simple,  cowardly  enough  to 
be  afraid  of  the  Tibetans,  and  proverbially  honest, 
though  from  experience  we  found  it  best  not  to  trust 
them  implicitly.  The  spot  where  we  were  encamped 
was  rather  low  ground,  and  in  the  center  of  a  large 
encampment  of  Mongols,  very  near  to  some  of  their 
tents.  The  grass  was  excellent  as  was  also  the  water, 
and  considerable  underbrush  stretched  about  us.  When 
it  rained  the  place  was  turned  into  a  veritable  mud- 
hole,  the  ground  being  of  a  sort  of  clay  formation,  and 
various  ditches  had  to  be  dug  to  keep  the  water  from 
our  tents  and  fire.  Our  camel  loads  of  goods  sent  on 
from  Tankar  in  advance  had  arrived  safely,  and  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  Barong  dzassaJc,  but  being  in  need 
of  rest  for  both  ourselves  and  our  animals,  we  stayed 
in  our  first  camping  place  for  a  few  days,  employing 
our  time  in  bartering  and  chatting  with  the  natives. 


224  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  in  \rriting  letters.  We  feasted  on  fresh  meat,  milk 
and  butter,  but  had  to  be  careful  that  we  did  not  unin- 
tentionally buy  butter  made  of  camel's  milk,  which  the 
natives  offered  for  sale.  Cattle  were  very  scarce  in 
this  locality,  owing  partly  to  the  plague  which  had 
carried  off  thousands  of  them,  and  partly  to  the  inroads 
of  the  Goloks,  the  mortal  enemies  of  the  Mongols,  and 
of  whom  the  latter  are  desperately  afraid.  Young  girls 
and  women  came  to  see  me  frequently,  bringing  butter 
to  barter  for  silk  and  gold  thread.  They  were  dressed 
for  the  most  part  in  long  pulu  garments  with  little 
jackets  underneath,  their  hair  done  either  in  many 
plaits  fastened  with  cloth  at  the  back  or  divided  into 
two  larger  plaits,  one  on  each  side,  enveloped  in  a  broad 
band  of  black  cloth  or  velvet,  embroidered  with  thread 
or  beads,  going  down  underneath  the  girdle  to  almost 
the  bottom  of  the  gown.  The  married  women  had  the 
latter  custom.  A  profusion  of  beads  of  different  colors 
adorned  their  persons,  which  were  very  dirty  indeed, 
and  it  took  our  utmost  care  to  keep  the  population  of 
our  tents  from  increasing  to  an  alarming  degree. 

Our  horses  were  already  weary  from  their  long  march, 
and  to  spare  them  we  decided  to  hire  camels  to  trans- 
port our  goods  to  the  dzassah's  camp,  a  half  day's  jour- 
ney distant.  One  needs  a  liberal  supply  of  patience  to 
deal  with  Mongols,  who  are  sharp,  calculating  and  so 
changeable  that  it  is  difficult  to  keep  them  to  a  bargain 
after  it  has  been  made.  Two  of  them  having  inspected 
our  loads  and  having  received  the  required  number  of 
Tckatas  in  prepayment  for  their  services,  returned  next 
morning  with  an  insufficient  number  of  camels,  and 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  225 

one  of  those  they  did  bring  could  not  carry  a  heavy 
load.  They  also  failed  to  bring  any  ropes  or  pads  to 
go  underneath  the  loads.  A  lively  time  ensued  and 
finally  Mr.  Eijnhart  told  them  plainly  our  horses  would 
not  carry  one  atom  of  our  stuff,  that  the  camels  had 
been  paid  for  in  order  that  our  animals  might 
have  a  rest.  Our  men  then  counted  our  ropes 
and  watched  the  loads,  and  amidst  much  grum- 
bling from  the  Mongols,  packing  and  loading  was  fin- 
ished and  off  we  went.  The  aspect  of  the  country  was 
bleak,  almost  like  a  desert,  at  last  settling  down  into 
a  very  level  plain,  upon  which  in  the  distance  we  saw 
hundreds  of  tents.  The  two  boys  drove  our  horses  on 
happy  without  any  loads,  while  Eahim  rode  alongside 
of  us.  Baby  and  all  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  air  and 
sunshine.  We  chose  a  pretty  camping  ground  near  a 
stream  of  water,  in  the  midst  of  blue  iris,  about  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  tents  of  the  dzassak  of  Barong, 
from  whose  tent  two  men  immediately  came  to  help 
us  pitch  ours.  Taking  Eahim  and  baby  with  us,  for 
we  never  considered  it  wise  to  leave  the  little  fellow 
with  the  servants  when  we  were  both  away,  we  went  to 
give  the  dzassak  the  presents  and  find  out  from  him 
about  the  loads  which  the  Korluk  Bei-si  had  left  in  his 
care  for  us.  From  what  Eockhill  had  said  in  his 
'•  Land  of  the  Lamas  "  we  expected  to  find  this  man 
both  polite  and  kind,  especially  as  our  presents,  which 
were  very  valuable,  were  made  to  him  and  to  his  wife, 
the  Mongols  of  Tankar  having  advised  us  to  seek  the 
latter's  influence.  On  reaching  the  door  of  the  tent 
we  were  welcomed  only  by  inferiors,  and  saw  sitting 


226  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

upon  some  rugs  a  man  of  about  thirty-seven  years  of 
age,  dressed  in  a  dark  blue  cloth  gown,  and  a  little  cir- 
cular Chinese  hat,  his  face  very  fat,  having  by  no  means 
an  attractive  expression.  He  had  not  risen  to  receive 
us,  thereby  committing  an  almost  unpardonable  breach 
of  politeness,  one  to  which  we  were  unaccustomed,  but 
which  we  knew  was  calculated  to  give  us  an  exalted 
opinion  of  his  dignity.  We  bowed  and  seated  ourselves 
upon  rugs  provided  for  us,  while  the  women  gave  us 
tea  in  china  basins  into  which  a  piece  of  butter  and 
some  tsamha  had  previously  been  put;  we  were  also 
served  some  bread  fried  in  fat,  and  hong-tsao-er,  a  dried 
Chinese  fruit.  The  tent  was  a  large  round  one  made 
of  felt  with  lattice  work  on  the  sides  and  a  hole  in  the 
center  to  emit  the  smoke  from  the  fire  immediately 
beneath  in  a  round  clay  fireplace,  with  the  pot  resting 
on  an  iron  tripod.  Eugs  covered  the  floor  around  the 
sides,  and  boxes  were  piled  high,  giving  an  air  of  af- 
fluence not  found  in  ordinary  tents.  The  chief  had  a 
little  wooden  bed  six  inches  high  that  he  used  in  order 
to  avoid  getting  rheumatism,  which  disease,  according 
to  Chinese  doctors,  comes  from  the  earth.  On  either 
side  of  him  sat  a  lama,  one  of  them  apparently  en- 
grossed in  praying,  but  really  hearing  and  seeing  every- 
thing that  was  going  on.  The  chief's  wife  and  little 
daughter  sat  in  the  opposite  side  of  the  tent  from  us, 
and  though  we  had  expected  to  see  the  former  clean 
and  well  dressed,  she  was  neither,  being  quite  indis- 
tinguishable from  other  Mongol  women  as  far  as  her 
attire  was  concerned.  Women  of  various  ages  crowded 
the  tent,  several  men  were  sitting  near  the  door,  which 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  227 

was  itself  filled  with  heads.  There  is  no  such  dignity 
found  among  these  nomad  chiefs  as  among  Chinese 
mandarins,  for  the  poorest  man  can  go  into  the  chief's 
tent  and  he  given  tea,  while  a  bargain  or  a  business 
transaction  is  being  discussed.  The  chief  told  us  our 
goods  had  come,  and  that  he  would  go  over  to  the  vil- 
lage on  the  morrow  with  Mr.  Rijnhart  to  get  them. 
As  we  were  about  to  leave  he  arose  and  accompanied 
us  to  the  door,  bowing  there  and  watching  us  depart; 
an  old  woman  held  a  big,  ferocious  dog  until  we  were 
beyond  danger  and  we  sauntered  slowly  to  our  tent, 
glad  to  be  once  more  in  the  sweet  sunshine  out  of  doors. 
He  came  over  next  day  and  brought  us  several  pounds 
of  fresh,  moderately  clean  yellow  butter,  some  churma, 
and  a  big  fat  sheep.  We  were  not  in  need  of  any  favors 
or  kindness  from  him,  but  he  had  evidenty  decided  that 
we  were  people  to  be  cultivated,  or  perhaps  he  con- 
cluded that  as  we  expected  to  stay  for  some  time  it 
would  pay  him  to  be  agreeable.  The  weather  during 
the  stay  was  delightful;  the  grassy  plains  stretched 
on  all  sides  where  were  tents  innumerable  with  flocks 
and  herds ;  towards  the  south  we  could  see  the  Nomoran 
and  Burh'an  Bota  passes  in  the  Kuenlun  mountains,  be- 
yond which  lay  our  goal.  Near  our  tent  a  ground  bird 
had  her  nest  of  five  eggs  hidden  among  the  iris.  How 
we  enjoyed  her,  for  birds,  with  the  exception  of  hawks 
and  ravens,  had  been  very  scarce. 

Our  boys  had  had  turns  at  being  cook,  and 
while  one  of  them  would  do  his  best  with  the 
viands,  the  second  would  look  after  Charlie,  and 
the  third  would   serve   as  a  body   servant   and  tend 


228  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  horses  in  the  morning  and  evening.  The  chief 
supplied  us  with  fuel  to  make  bread,  and  had 
his  men  bring  firewood  from  some  distance  away,  which 
was  mostly  roots  dug  out  of  the  sand.  Bread-making 
was  an  event  of  great  importance.  We  had  a  beaten 
brass  pot  ten  inches  in  diameter,  over  which  a  lid  fitted 
closely  lapping  down  an  inch.  Into  this  our  bread  M'as 
put  and  the  pot  was  then  buried  in  the  fire  of  dried 
cow-dung,  care  being  taken  that  it  was  not  too  hot. 
Fruitcake  can  be  made  in  these  pots,  and  many  other 
very  palatable  kinds  of  cake  and  buns,  provided  always 
the  ingredients  are  at  hand,  and  plenty  of  fuel,  which 
we  sometimes  found  difficult  to  get.  About  our  so- 
journ of  three  weeks  in  the  Ts'aidam  cluster  sweet 
memories,  for  there  our  little  family  had  the  last  quiet 
time  together  in  sunny  weather,  without  one  cloud  of 
worry  or  unrest  to  dampen  the  thorough  enjoyment. 
The  outstanding  event  was  the  celebration  on  the  30th 
of  June  of  baby's  birthday.  In  preparation  for  the 
day  a  birthday  cake  was  made  of  flour,  sugar,  butter 
and  sultanas,  and  the  chief  was  invited  to  come  over 
to  help  eat  "  foreign  cake."  In  the  morning  the  Mon- 
gols were  surprised  to  hear  the  guns  which  were  fired 
in  honor  of  our  little  son,  while  each  of  our  servants 
was  still  more  surprised  when  called  and  presented  with 
a  gift.  How  thoroughly  baby  enjoyed  those  days,  when 
he  made  the  tents  ring  with  joyousness  from  his  musical 
laughter,  his  shouts  and  the  beating  of  our  Eussian 
brass  wash-basin  which  he  used  as  a  drum.  Then  from 
sheer  weariness  he  would  fall  asleep,  leaving  the  camp 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  229 

pervaded  by  a  stillness,  made  sweet  by  the  fact  that 
he  was  still  there. 

The  chief  came  to  our  tent  very  often,  and  we  did 
some  trading  with  him.  We  had  some  rice  that  we 
wished  to  barter  for  sheep  and  he  was  anxious  to  have 
it,  so  of  course  no  one  else  dared  to  make  an  offer,  for 
he  always  has  the  pre-eminence  in  matters  of  trade,  and 
frequently  must  have  his  share  of  the  profits  of  a  good 
bargain  made  by  members  of  his  tribe.  We  found  him 
contemptibly  mean,  wanting  to  use  small  weight  scales, 
cheat  us  on  the  price,  always  begging  us  to  "  add  a 
little,"  the  common  request  of  a  Chinese  purchaser, 
when  anything  is  being  weighed  or  measured  out  to 
him.  We  would  not  have  been  so  surprised  at  this 
man's  character  had  we  previously  seen  W.  W.  Rock- 
hill's  account  of  his  second  journey,  upon  which  he  and 
his  old  friend,  the  dzassak,  had  about  a  similar  experi- 
ence to  that  which  we  had  had.  Poor  Dowe,  Rockhill's 
guide  in  1889,  came  to  grief  through  his  highly  prized 
revolver,  for  he  was  exiled  in  Shang,  his  flocks  and 
herds  having  been  confiscated  by  the  chief  and  he  him- 
self disgraced.  While  he  was  on  his  way  to  Tankar, 
he  had  some  trouble  with  a  young  servant,  during 
which  he  threatened  to  shoot  the  latter,  and  drawing 
the  revolver  fired  it,  though  some  of  the  Mongols  said 
it  was  unintentional.  However,  he  killed  the  man  and 
the  family  of  the  deceased  demanded  the  payment  of 
indemnity  and  the  dzassak  left  Dowe  a  poor  man, 
though  he  himself  no  doubt  profited  by  his  steward's 
misfortune.  When  we  were  there  Dowe  was  almost 
blind  and  living  in  Shang,  but  had  managed  to  collect 


230  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

a  few  sheep  and  cattle  together.  An  old  trader  from 
Tankar  who  was  in  the  Ts'aidam  during  the  summer 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  our  tent.  He  had  accom- 
panied the  Chinese  official  who  had  been  sent  to  investi- 
gate the  murder  of  Dutrueil  de  Ehins,  the  French 
traveler  who  had  been  killed  by  the  K'amba  in  1894. 
He  was  near  us  there  in  connection  with  the  wool  trade, 
and  would  be  returning  to  Tankar  in  August.  To  him 
we  gave  our  letters,  addressed  to  our  friends  at  home, 
and  he  said  he  would  either  send  them  with  some  one 
reliable  who  would  be  going  before  him,  or  he  would 
take  them  himself  to  Mr.  Uang,  the  merchant  at  the 
east  gate,  who  had  frequently  carried  or  sent  letters  to 
Sining  for  us.  These  letters  with  good  news,  did  not 
reach  Canada  until  after  the  letters  from  me  announcing 
the  great  calamity  that  befel  us  later  on  our  journey. 
While  in  the  Ts'aidam  we  provided  ourselves  with  fifty 
catties  of  butter  and  eleven  sheep  for  use  on  the  road 
south,  expecting  not  to  see  people  again  for  a  month. 
This  bartering  made  us  thankful  that  we  were  not  de- 
pendent upon  these  Mongols  for  our  tsamha,  as  the 
price  demanded  was  very  large  and  it  took  a  long  time 
to  come  to  terms  with  them  at  all,  they  are  so  change- 
able. They  are  also  great  cowards,  and  succeeded  in 
infusing  into  the  minds  of  our  two  men  fears  of  the 
journey  beyond,  dilating  on  the  passes  and  rivers,  espe- 
cially the  robbers  who  would  be  sure  to  prey  upon  us. 
Having  ascertained  that  a  party  of  Eastern  Mongols 
were  passing  through  the  Ts'aidam  on  their  way  to 
Lhasa  and  Trashil'unpo,  we  proposed  to  leave  two  days 
after  them,  because  we  knew  there  was  a  possibility  of 


IN  THE  TS'AIDAM  231 

our  missing  the  trail  in  the  places  where  it  was  not 
distinct.  A  young  lama  camped  in  a  small  white  tent 
beside  the  dzassah's  was  going  to  Lhasa  with  the  Mon- 
gols, and  through  him  we  learned  when  the  caravan 
would  leave,  and  made  our  preparations  accordingly. 

One  of  our  reasons  for  staying  so  long  in  the 
Ts'aidam  was  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  possibil- 
ities of  missionary  work  among  the  nomads,  and  after 
looking  over  the  ground  we  came  to  the  following  con- 
clusion: A  mission  could  be  successfully  carried  on 
in  the  Ts'aidam  during  the  summertime,  the  workers 
returning  to  Tankar  for  the  winter.  To  inspire  confi- 
dence it  would  be  wise  for  those  engaged  in  mission 
work  to  do  a  little  trading,  otherwise  the  natives  would 
suppose  they  got  their  living  by  magic.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  with  suitable  men  a  good  work  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  Gospels  could  also  be  done,  and  the  fact 
that  so  many  travelers  from  Lhasa  pass  through  the 
district  would  give  the  mission  a  wide  influence. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

UNPOPULATED  DISTRICTS. 

Crossing  the  Kuenlun  Mountains — "  Buddha's  Caul- 
dron " — Marshes  and  Sand-hills — Dead  Yak  Strew 
the  Trail— Ford  of  the  Shuga  Gol— Our  Guides  De- 
sert Us — Snow  Storm  on  the  Koko-Shilis — We  Meet 
a  Caravan — The  Beginning  of  Sorrows. 

The  Kuenlun  mountain  range  stretches  across  Tibet 
from  west  to  east  at  about  thirty-six  degrees  latitude, 
and  practically  forms  the  northern  limit  of  the  unex- 
plored Tibetan  territory  lying  west  of  ninety-three  de- 
grees longitude.  The  range  is  also  the  southern  boun- 
dary of  the  Ts'aidam,  and  the  natives  furthermore  look 
upon  it  as  the  line  of  demarcation  between  comfortable 
and  dangerous  traveling  from  Tankar  to  ISTagch'uk'a. 
Once  the  traveler  gets  south  of  the  Kuenluns,  they  say, 
he  is  certain  to  encoimter  dangers  formidable  in  the 
shape  of  passes,  rivers  and  brigands.  Eockhill  states 
that  this  mountain  range  south  of  the  Ts'aidam  has  no 
name,  and  Prjevalski  calls  it  Burh'an  Bota  (Buddha's 
Cauldron),  but  in  this  the  latter  is  mistaken,  for  that 
is  the  name,  not  of  the  range,  but  of  one  of  the  passes. 
Like  every  other  caravan  on  its  way  to  Inner  Tibet, 
we    had  rested    long  in  the  Ts'aidam  and    gathered 

233 


UNPOPULATED  DISTRICTS  233 

strength  for  the  ascent  and  crossing  of  Burh'an  Bota, 
and  other  high  passes  on  the  road,  which  on  account 
of  the  scarcity  of  pasture,  and  the  great  altitude,  tax 
to  the  utmost  the  traveling  capacity  of  both  man  and 
beast.  We  learned  from  the  lama  previously  men- 
tioned that  travelers  often  congregate  on  the  very  edge 
of  the  Ts'aidam  plains  because  there  is  grass,  and  the 
animals  are  allowed  to  have  a  good  feed;  for  immedi- 
ately at  the  foot  of  the  pass,  where  another  halt  is  al- 
ways made  before  the  ascent  is  attempted,  the  grass  is 
very  poor.  The  morning  after  our  lama's  tent  was  miss- 
ing from  its  position  beside  the  dzassah's,  we  left  the 
latter's  proximity  and  made  our  way  to  the  last  halting 
place  north  of  the  mountains. 

I  have  always  thought  of  sheep  as  such  docile  ani- 
mals, following  quietly  and  meekly  their  shepherd,  but 
when  I  look  back  on  that  day  in  the  Ts'aidam  with  it^s 
treacherous  marshes  interspersed  with  grassy  plains, 
the  sheep  banish  everything  else  from  my  thoughts, 
and  I  again  see  them  as  they  were  that  day  jumping 
and  running  in  every  direction  except  that  in  which 
they  were  wanted  to  go:  first  to  join  the  dzassah's 
flocks,  and,  when  separated  from  them,  off  directly  op- 
posite to  another  flock,  a  particularly  ambitious  one 
always  leading.  Poor  Ja-si  and  Ga-chuen-tsi  were 
out  seeking  them  away  into  the  night.  We  set  up 
our  tent  poles  as  a  tripod  upon  which  to  place  our  brass 
wash-basin,  and  burned  in  it  a  great  fire  to  serve  as  a 
beacon,  for  we  feared  they  might  be  lost  in  the  marsh. 
Not  far  from  us  there  was  a  tent  in  which  lived  an  old 
couple,  and  from  them  we  received  fresh  milk  which 


234  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

we  carried  along  in  bottles  the  next  morning  on  our 
journey.  0  the  bleak  barrenness  of  that  marshy  dis- 
trict !  Sand-hills,  gravel  and  scrub !  Not  a  sign  of  life 
in  any  place,  not  a  drop  of  running  water,  only  here 
and  there  in  a  little  hollow  in  the  bed  of  what  had 
been  apparently  an  irrigation  stream,  hidden  in  the 
shade  of  a  bush,  we  would  find  a  little,  but  not  enough 
to  refresh  us  and  the  horses.  When  it  was  nearly  dark 
Mr.  Eijnhart  went  ahead  and  found  a  camping-place 
among  brushwood  on  the  bank  of  a  large  stream  of  good 
water  flowing  towards  Dsun,  in  a  deep  gully  right  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  which  towered  in  front  of  us. 
It  seemed  cruel  to  tether  the  horses,  but  there  was  not  a 
blade  of  grass,  and  when  such  is  the  case  animals  will 
stray  miles  away  in  search  of  food  unless  prevented;  so 
we  gave  them  some  barley,  and  all  prepared  for  the 
ascent  of  the  Burh'an  Bota  the  following  day.  We 
started  shortly  after  daybreak,  beginning  to  ascend  at 
once  along  a  dry  watercourse,  where  not  an  atom  of 
green  was  to  be  seen,  but  strewn  here  and  there  were 
dead  yak,  many  of  them  reduced  to  skeletons  and  others 
more  recently  dead.  Of  the  latter  we  counted  forty- 
two,  and  the  sight  made  us  pause  to  reflect  on  the  name 
of  the  pass  and  wonder  whether  the  explanation  of  its 
name,  ''  Buddha's  Cauldron,"  is  not  found  in  the  fact 
that  it  claims  so  many  sacrifices  of  these  poor  animals; 
or  was  the  name  suggested  by  the  vapors  that  hang 
over  it,  which  the  natives  call  poisonous  from  the  de- 
pressing effect  they  produce  on  travelers?  Hue  de- 
scribed the  discomfort  and  pain  endured  in  the  ascent 
of  this  pass,  which  half  of  his  caravan  crossed  in  one 


UNPOPULATED  DISTRICTS  235 

stretch  while  the  other  half  stayed  part  way  up,  in- 
tending to  cross  the  day  following.  We  camped  some 
distance  from  the  summit,  where  there  were  indications 
of  the  Tcopas  having  stopped,  and  where  there  were 
food,  water  and  fairly  good  grass.  Our  camp  was  in  a 
beautiful  recess  in  the  hills  which,  with  their  varied 
shapes  and  hues,  towered  cloudward  in  front  of  us. 
So  great  was  the  elevation  to  which  we  had  attained 
that  the  country  we  had  just  traversed  seemed,  as  we 
looked  back  upon  it,  to  belong  to  another  world  far 
beneath  us.  Though  the  natives  assured  us  that  it 
always  rained  whenever  anyone  crossed  this  pass,  prob- 
ably from  the  great  altitude  and  the  clouds  hanging 
about  the  summit,  we  had  fine  weather;  but  no  one 
enjoyed  it  very  much,  as  all  except  Rahim  had  a  head- 
ache. Ga-chuen-ts'i  was  very  ill,  and  little  Charlie  was 
perfectly  willing  to  lie  down  with  me  and  keep  quiet, 
for  we  found  that  we  felt  much  better  when  still  and  in 
a  prostrate  position.  On  the  top  of  the  pass  was  a 
large  060  and  our  native  companions  cast  a  stone 
upon  the  already  large  heap,  chanting  in  loud  and  joy- 
ful voices  their  thanks  to  the  spirits  for  help  in  climb- 
ing successfully  to  the  top,  a  task  of  no  small  magni- 
tude. Caravans  coming  out  from  the  interior  pay 
heavily  in  that  locality  by  the  yak  and  horses  lost  dur- 
ing the  crossing  of  this  pass,  the  severe  toil  and  the 
great  stretches  of  country  without  any  fodder  coming 
at  the  end  of  a  long  journey  causing  large  numbers  to 
succumb.  How  delightful  it  was  after  descending  along 
rugged  paths  to  camp  in  luxuriant  grass,  and  among 
brushwood  which  provided  us  with  plenty  of  firewood. 


236  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Such  was  our  next  camping-place  on  the  bank  of  a 
pretty  stream,  which  next  day  we  followed  down  its 
course,  to  branch  off  from  it  along  the  caravan  road 
which  led  us  up  another  stream,  showing  us  we  were 
ascending  again.  In  fact  the  whole  month's  journey 
might  be  said  to  be  a  series  of  ups  and  downs  in  more 
senses  than  one — the  road  continually  ascending  or 
descending,  the  grass  and  firewood  being  one  day 
abundant,  the  next  absolutely  wanting. 

As  we  were  in  uninhabited  country,  and  expected  to 
be  for  a  month  or  more,  the  appearance  of  four  men 
and  some  camels  was  a  welcome  sight  and  the  occasion 
of  marked  politeness  on  both  sides,  Mr.  Rijnhart  pre- 
senting them  with  some  bread,  and  Eahim  exchanging 
tobacco  with  them.  They  were  part  of  a  large  caravan 
on  its  way  from  Lhasa  to  Tankar,  but  the  oxen  were 
several  days  behind  them,  having  to  come  so  slowly. 
The  mere  sight  of  them  gave  us  a  feeling  of  compan- 
ionship that  was  pleasant  after  the  isolation  of  the 
mountains,  and  we  proceeded  with  the  anticipation  of 
meeting  at  any  moment  perhaps  another  small  party 
who  were  aiming  to  push  on  to  the  Ts'aidam.  Well  do 
I  remember  the  beauty  of  the  camping  ground  the  fol- 
lowing day,  situated  on  the  bank  of  a  copious  stream 
coming  apparently  from  springs  in  some  exceedingly 
lofty  mountains  a  few  miles  up  a  beautiful  valley  at  the 
head  of  which  stood,  as  if  it  were  a  sentinel  on  guard, 
a  solitary  summit  towering  high  in  its  magnificence 
above  all  surrounding  peaks.  Our  tents  were  pitched 
among  beds  of  dainty  pink  primulas  which  studded  the 
grassy  carpet.    But  all  was  not  to  be  sunshine,  for  that 


UNPOPULATED  DISTKICTS  237 

night  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  traveling  was  impossible 
the  next  morning,  and  the  men  found  it  necessary  to 
go  about  ten  miles  for  firewood.  We  deemed  it  wise 
to  move  our  camp  to  the  hills,  for  if  the  rain  continued 
as  it  showed  every  indication  of  doing,  we  might  have 
been  in  danger  from  the  previously  quiet  mountain 
stream,  now  muddy  and  rising  rapidly,  though  eventu- 
ally it  proved  a  needless  fear.  We  had  seen  these  quiet 
streams  suddenly  changed  into  raging  torrents,  in  their 
mad  course  carrying  everything  with  them,  hence  our 
determination  to  move  to  higher  ground,  and  to  avoid 
flowery  carpets  in  the  future,  if  they  were  on  the  banks 
of  a  stream  liable  to  overflow  suddenly.  Wild  mules, 
antelopes,  bears  and  wild  yak  were  plentiful  in  these 
regions,  but  owing  to  the  wet  weather  fuel  was  hard  to 
get,  and  at  times  yak  horns  cut  into  fine  splinters,  to- 
gether with  roots  of  small  weeds,  were  all  we  could 
find;  these  were  scarcely  sufficient  to  more  than  warm 
water  for  tea,  though  we  always  had  enough  dry 
kindling  wood  that  we  carried  in  part  of  one  load  to 
make  baby's  food. 

Now  our  road  lay  in  a  west  southwesterly  direction, 
following  streams  for  the  most  part,  these  seeming  to 
form  openings  in  the  mountains.  Then  we  ascended  a 
pass  on  which  there  was  a  small  oho.  After  following  a 
rivulet,  crossing  and  recrossing  it  several  times,  we 
forded  the  Shuga  gol,  which,  being  greatly  swollen  with 
the  recent  rains,  and  having  a  sinking  sand  and  gravel 
bottom,  was  almost  unfordable,  and  it  was  with  con- 
siderable anxiety  that  we  saw  some  of  our  loaded 
horses  almost  swept  away  in  the  seething  current,  or 


238  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

sink  in  pitfalls.  The  tedious  march  through  miry 
ground  and  red  clay  along  the  river  in  search  of  a 
camp  with  good  grass  and  spring  water,  must  have  dis- 
couraged our  two  boys,  Ja-si  and  Ga-chuen-tsi,  for  we 
noticed  that  they  were  not  so  amiable  and  happy  as 
before.  One  morning  when  we  arose  we  found  that  they 
had  decamped  in  the  night,  taking  with  them  their 
own  belongings,  a  pot  and  food  enough  for  the  return 
journey.  The  discovery  caused  some  surprise,  and  Mr. 
Kijnhart,  with  Kahim,  mounted  our  best  horses  to  go 
back  and  if  possible  bring  the  truants  to  camp  again, 
leaving  Charlie  and  myself  with  Topsy  to  await  their 
return.  Our  camp  was  high  in  a  sheltered  nook  in  the 
hills  on  the  river  bank,  with  bright  green  grass  and 
pretty  moss  along  little  bubbling  springs,  the  moun- 
tains towering  in  the  distance,  the  snow-capped  sum- 
mits of  the  loftier  ones  looking  down  in  their  calm 
superiority,  giving  one  the  impression  that  they  were 
conscious  of  their  own  height.  There  is  no  solitude 
like  that  of  the  mountains,  perhaps  because  their 
majesty  impresses  one  so,  and  makes  nature  too  far 
away  to  be  friendly. 

That  day  alone  in  the  hills  with  no  trees,  birds  or 
flowers  near,  made  me  realize  the  sweetness  provided  by 
the  companionship  of  a  little  child  and  a  dog,  who 
both  seemed  to  feel  the  loneliness,  and  endeavored  to 
be  bright  and  companionable,  while  occasionally  a  chill 
would  pierce  my  heart  as  the  thought  came :  "  What  if 
any  accident  should  prevent  their  return?"  Was  it  a 
foreboding  of  the  future,  a  whispering  of  what  was  to 
be?    The  thought  was  not  harbored,  but  a  little  gar- 


UNPOPULATED  DISTRICTS  239 

ment  that  was  being  knitted  for  baby  grew  very  rapidly 
under  my  fingers  that  day,  and  great  was  the  rejoicing 
when  late  in  the  afternoon  the  jaded  horses  bore  their 
riders  home,  even  though  they  came  without  the  two 
boys.  We  trust  the  latter  reached  the  Ts'aidam  in 
safety,  for  they  had  plenty  of  food,  and  the  trail  was 
good,  but  it  rained  next  day  and  the  rivers  must  have 
been  very  high,  making  their  crossing  on  foot  danger- 
ous. 

The  desertion  of  these  men  left  us  in  a  quandary,  but 
we  rearranged  our  loads  that  they  might  be  easily 
handled  by  two,  fed  some  of  the  extra  food  to  our 
horses,  and  continued  our  journey  after  a  rest  of  four 
days.  Storms  seemed  to  be  the  rule,  for  it  snowed  and 
hailed  at  about  twelve  o'clock  every  day ;  but  we  pushed 
our  way  on  past  a  lake  called  Uyan-khar,  across  a  plain 
where  the  trail  was  scarcely  visible  and  where  quick- 
sands were  numerous,  to  a  camp  by  the  side  of  springs 
with  plenty  of  wild  onions,  which  were  a  great  treat. 
Rahim  had  had  a  gruesome  experience  here  on  his  way 
out  of  Tibet  in  1896.  He  and  two  companions  were  the 
only  survivors  of  the  six  who  followed  in  Capt.  Well- 
by's  footsteps,  keeping  out  of  sight  two  days'  march 
behind  the  latter,  until  they  discovered  signs  of  a  large 
caravan  with  yak  which  had  crossed  the  Chumar  river 
just  before  them.  They  had  no  food  except  a  blue 
flower  of  the  labiatse  family  and  wild  onions,  and  here 
on  our  camping  ground  they  saw  a  tame  yak,  prob- 
ably one  that  had  been  over-fatigued  and  left  by  the 
caravan  mentioned  above.  They  attacked  and  killed  it, 
and,  he  said,  they  were  so  weakened  by  starvation  that 


240  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

they  just  sat  down  and  ate  raw  liver,  not  waiting  to 
cook  it.  The  dusky  eye  of  the  Oriental  flashed  as  he 
recalled  the  joy  that  had  come  to  him  in  this  spot  when 
the  yak  and  traces  of  a  caravan  told  him  he  was  again 
approaching  the  haunts  of  human  beings. 

Wild  onions  grow  in  great  quantities  in  these  dis- 
tricts and  are  particularly  welcome  to  travelers,  for 
they  grow  in  places  along  the  caravan-trails,  where 
there  is  no  meat  to  be  had,  and  where  they  are  the 
only  obtainable  green  for  diet.  We  invariably  tented 
when  possible  in  what  had  previously  been  Tcopas' 
camps,  and  the  deserted  fireplaces,  together  with  the 
small  ohos  around  on  the  hills,  served  as  landmarks  to 
point  out  the  road,  as  the  blazed  trees  did  in  pioneer 
times  in  our  own  country.  The  corpse  of  a  man  on 
the  roadside  told  its  own  pathetic  tale,  how  he  had 
fallen  sick  and  unable  to  keep  up  with  his  caravan, 
how  he  had  been  left  behind  with  a  supply  of  clothes 
and  food,  and  had  died  alone  when  the  food  was  all 
used.  There,  surrounded  by  his  scattered  and  torn 
garments,  lay  his  body,  the  flesh  partly  devoured  by 
wild  beasts  and  eagles.  Eahim  shuddered  at  the  sight, 
and  at  the  memory  of  his  own  escape  from  a  similar 
fate ;  and  our  arrival  at  the  Chumar  river  where  he  had 
first  seen  traces  of  the  kopas  who  helped  him,  revived 
the  memory  of  how  kind  kismet  had  been  to  him. 

Having  camped  again  near  some  ohos  made  of  large 
prayer-stones  in  a  position  east  of  a  low  ridge  of  hills, 
and  after  having  crossed  some  sand-dunes,  we  forded 
the  Chumar,  one  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Yangtse ;  and 
even  though  at  the  ford  the  depth  was  less  than  else- 


UNPOPULATED  DISTRICTS  241 

where,  we  experienced  considerable  difficulty  in  cross- 
ing itj  for  there  were  several  branches  separated  by 
small  sandbars  bearing  tufts  of  grass.  In  the  first 
branch  our  horses  sank  into  the  quicksand,  and  had 
Rahim  not  been  an  expert  we  would  have  lost  several 
loads,  while  the  last  branch  was  very  deep,  all  the 
horses  having  to  swim.  Then  we  passed  through  a 
shaking  bog,  which  well-nigh  exhausted  our  animals. 
It  seemed  that  at  every  step  the  wavering  foundations 
would  give  way  and  we  would  sink  somewhere  into  the 
depths  of  the  earth.  Dead  horses  and  camels  strewn 
along  the  way  gave  evidence  of  the  extreme  difficulties 
of  transport  across  this  treacherous  piece  of  country. 
In  the  entrance  to  the  Koko-shili  range  on  the  southeast 
of  the  valley,  we  came  to  a  spot  where  caravans  had 
evidently  stayed  several  days,  and  where  a  dog  that 
had  had  its  back  broken  was  keeping  guard  over  some 
dead  horses,  and  resented  Topsy's  advent.  The  ascent 
of  the  Koho-shili  is  at  first  gradual,  but  near  the  top  it 
is  very  steep.  A  violent  snow-storm  overtook  us  and  we 
feared  to  lose  the  trail,  but  two  ohos  indicated  our  ar- 
rival at  the  summit,  and  a  careful  descent  brought  us  to 
a  pretty  camping  ground.  The  transition  from  the 
area  of  a  snow-storm  around  the  summit  of  a  pass  with 
its  irregular  stony  paths,  its  bleak  peaks  and  ohos,  to 
sunshine,  green  grass  and  bright  crystal  streams  below, 
gives  one  an  exceedingly  pleasant  sensation,  and  makes 
the  pulse  throb  with  joy  and  a  sense  of  satisfaction. 

The  next  few  days'  traveling  brought  us  to  different 
branches  of  the  Ulan  Muren,  and  on  to  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  Mur-ussu,  another  high  water  of  the 


242  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Yangtse,  called  Mur-ussu  by  the  Mongols  and  Dre  Chu 
by  the  Tibetans.  Here  I  make  extracts  from  Mr. 
Eijnhart's  diary  which  will  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
locality. 

"  August  10th.  To-day  fine  and  hot.  Start  at  eight 
o'clock,  travel  through  sand-hills  covered  sparingly  with 
grass,  pass  along  the  east  side  of  a  lake,  then  turn 
southwest  and  enter  between  two  lakes.  On  the  north 
shore  of  the  southern  one  are  many  large  ohos.  Stop 
after  traveling  three  and  a  half  hours  on  the  western 
extremity  of  a  lake,  north  of  the  Mur-ussu,  with  di- 
rectly south  of  us  a  snow-peak,  Mt.  Dorst,  and  southeast 
Mt.  Djoma,  also  a  snow-peak.     Charlie  is  teething." 

"  August  11th.  Charlie  is  a  little  better.  Started 
with  fine  weather  from  the  northeast  corner  of  lake. 
In  about  an  hour  afterwards  we  reached  a  large  branch 
of  the  Mur-ussu;  on  one  of  the  largest  streams  horses 
swim;  get  many  things  wet,  but  did  cross  admirably. 
On  the  road  have  a  fearful  hail-storm;  pass  two  small 
lakes,  one  east,  one  west  of  our  track.  Come  in  sight 
of  largest  branch  of  Mur-ussu,  a  source  of  the  Yangtse ; 
camp  on  right  bank." 

The  main  branch  of  the  Mur-ussu  is  very  large,  flow- 
ing quietly  in  a  deep  bed,  and  it  gave  us  a  feeling  of 
inability  to  ford,  unless  it  spread  to  a  greater  width 
further  on.  We  kept  looking  for  that  as  we  skirted  its 
banks,  when  in  the  distance  we  spied  yak,  and  Eahim 
announced  that  they  were  saddled.  Rahim's  vision  was 
much  keener  than  ours,  for  we  could  barely  verify  his 
words  by  means  of  our  telescope.  We  were  all  on  the 
qui  vive,  when  suddenly  we  saw  some  white  tents,  and 


UNPOPULATED  DISTEICTS  2^S 

on  nearer  approach  discovered  that  there  were  fourteen 
of  them,  having  about  1,500  yak  and  many  horses.  Our 
way  led  through  the  center  of  the  encampment  and 
not  having  any  fear  we  rode  up  and  were  received  in 
a  very  friendly  manner  by  the  travelers,  most  of  them 
knowing  us.  They  had  been  just  one  month  coming 
from  Nagch'uk'a  and  were  on  their  way  to  Tankar,  so 
we  sent  messages  with  them  to  our  friends.  By  their 
dripping  yak,  and  everything  being  spread  out  in  the 
sun  to  dry,  we  concluded  that  the  river  in  front  of  us, 
and  which  they  had  just  crossed,  was  very  deep;  and 
though  they  wanted  us  to  camp  beside  them,  we  went 
on  to  ford  the  waters,  which  would  probably  give  us 
such  a  wetting  that  we  would  need  to  stop  on  the  other 
shore  and  get  dried.  There  were  five  branches,  and 
while  the  hopas  watched  our  passage  we  crossed  first 
one  then  another,  the  horses  swimming  at  times.  The 
only  one  who  enjoyed  the  fording  was  Charlie,  who 
shouted  with  joy,  when  we  all  called  out  to  the  horses 
to  arouse  their  courage  as  well  as  our  own.  The  sensa- 
tion of  camping  across  the  river  from  friends  was  pe- 
culiar. The  tents  on  the  opposite  bank  looked  like  a 
town,  but  in  the  morning  every  vestige  of  the  recent  in- 
habitants with  dwellings  was  gone,  and  we  were  again 
alone.  We  had  the  worst  storm  that  night  we  had  ex- 
perienced on  the  road,  and  it  seemed  as  if  tent  and 
everything  would  be  blown  away,  but  we  steadied  the 
poles,  and  in  time  all  apparent  danger  was  past.  Later 
on  some  of  the  Jcopas  must  have  visited  our  camp,  for 
next  morning,  to  our  consternation,  five  of  our  best 
animals    were    gone.      They    had    undoubtedly    been 


244  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

stolen,  as  we  traced  them  away  down  to  a  river- 
crossing  with  footsteps  of  another  horse  and  dog. 
This  event  marked  the  beginning  of  sorrows,  for 
Charlie  had  begun  to  cut  his  teeth,  so  was  causing  us 
no  little  anxiety,  but  we  traveled  very  short  stages  and 
he  seemed  to  improve,  even  though  a  gland  in  his  neck 
was  swollen.  On  the  bank  of  a  large  river  Rahim  shot 
and  killed  a  wild  mule,  some  of  whose  flesh  we  were 
glad  to  use  for  food,  having  tasted  no  meat  for  many 
days. 

In  the  most  deserted  region  through  which  we  had 
yet  passed  we  found  ourselves  without  guides,  lost  five 
of  our  ponies  and  saw  the  hand  of  affliction  laid  upon 
our  little  child. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DARKNESS. 

Nearing  the  Dang  Las — Death  of  our  Little  Son — The 
Lone  Grave  Under  the  Boulder. 

Following  the  occidental  road  from  the  Ts'aidam  we 
had  ascended  many  passes,  and  though  some  of  them 
were  over  16,000  feet  above  the  sea,  on  none  of  them 
did  we  find  old  snow,  and  hence  the  snow-line  in  that 
region  cannot  be  lower  than  about  17,500  feet.  Wild 
animals  abounded  in  many  localities,  yak  sometimes 
being  visible  from  very  near.  One  fine  day  we  sur- 
prised a  number  of  the  latter  which,  on  seeing  us, 
dashed  across  a  large  stream,  their  huge  tails  high 
in  the  air,  the  spray  from  their  headlong  rush  into  the 
water  rising  in  clouds,  presenting  a  magnificent  sight. 
Wild  mules  had  been  seen  in  large  numbers,  especially 
after  we  crossed  the  Mur-ussu  river,  while  bears 
and  antelopes  were  everyday  sights.  On  August  the 
twenty-first,  after  we  had  been  ascending  for  several 
days,  we  found  ourselves  traveling  directly  south,  fol- 
lowing up  to  its  source  a  beautiful  stream  full  of 
stones,  probably  one  of  the  Mur-ussu  high  waters.  In 
front  of  us  were  the  Dang  La  mountais,  snow-clad  and 
sunkissed,  towering  in  their  majesty,  and,  to  us  tenfold 

846 


246  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

more  interesting  because  immediately  beyond  them  lay 
the  Lhasa  district  of  Tibet,  in  which  the  glad  tidings 
of  the  gospel  were  unknown,  and  in  which  the  Dalai 
Lama  exercises  supreme  power,  temporal  and  spiritual, 
over  the  people.  Moreover,  as  we  hoped  to  obtain  per- 
mission to  reside  in  that  district  as  long  as  we  did  not 
attempt  to  enter  the  Capital,  it  seemed  that  our  jour- 
neyings  for  the  present  were  almost  at  an  end.  This 
hope,  added  to  the  fact  that  our  darling's  eight  teeth, 
which  had  been  struggling  to  get  through,  were  now 
shining  white  above  the  gums,  revived  our  spirits  and 
we  all  sang  for  very  joy,  picking  bouquets  of  bright  pink 
leguminous  flowers  as  we  went  along. 

The  morning  of  the  darkest  day  in  our  history  arose, 
bright,  cheery,  and  full  of  promise,  bearing  no  omen 
of  the  cloud  that  was  about  to  fall  upon  us.  Our  break- 
fast was  thoroughly  enjoj^ed,  Charlie  ate  more  heartily 
than  he  had  done  for  some  days,  and  we  resumed  our 
journey  full  of  hope.  Eiding  along  we  talked  of  the 
future,  its  plans,  its  work,  and  its  unknown  successes 
and  failures,  of  the  possibility  of  going  to  the  Indian 
border  when  our  stay  in  the  interior  was  over,  and  then 
of  going  home  to  America  and  Holland  before  we  re- 
turned to  Tankar,  or  the  interior  of  Tibet  again. 
Fondly  our  imagination  followed  the  career  of  our  lit- 
tle son;  in  a  moment  years  were  added  to  his  stature 
and  the  infant  had  grown  to  the  frolicking  boy  full  of 
life  and  vigor,  athirst  for  knowledge  and  worthy  of 
the  very  best  instruction  we  could  give  him.  With  what 
deliberation  we  decided  to  give  his  education  our  per- 
sonal supervision,  and  what  books  we  would  procure 


DARKNESS  247 

for  him — the  very  best  and  most  scientific  in  English, 
French  and  German.  "  He  must  have  a  happy  child- 
hood," said  his  father.  "  He  shall  have  all  the  blocks, 
trains,  rocking-horses  and  other  things  that  boys  in 
the  homeland  have,  so  that  when  he  shall  have  grown 
up  he  may  not  feel  that  because  he  was  a  missionary's 
son,  he  had  missed  the  joys  that  brighten  other  boys' 
lives."  How  the  tones  of  his  baby  voice  rang  out  as 
we  rode  onward !  I  can  still  hear  him  shouting  lustily 
at  the  horses  in  imitation  of  his  father  and  Rahim. 

Suddenly  a  herd  of  yak  on  the  river  bank  near  us 
tempted  Rahim  away  to  try  a  shot,  but  the  animals, 
scenting  danger,  rushed  off  into  the  hills  to  our  right; 
then  across  the  river  we  saw  other  yak,  apparently  some 
isolated  ones,  coming  towards  us,  but  on  closer  exam- 
ination we  found  they  were  tame  yak  driven  by  four 
mounted  men  accompanied  by  a  big,  white  dog.  The 
men  evidently  belonged  to  the  locality,  and  we  expected 
they  would  come  to  exchange  with  us  ordinary  civili- 
ties, but  to  our  surprise  when  they  saw  us  they  quickly 
crossed  our  path,  and  studiously  evading  us,  disap- 
peared in  the  hills.  This  strange  conduct  on  their  part 
aroused  in  our  minds  suspicions  as  to  their  intentions. 
Carefully  we  selected  a  camping-place  hidden  by  little 
hills;  the  river  flowed  in  front  and  the  pasture  was 
good. 

Though  baby's  voice  had  been  heard  just  a  few  mo- 
ments previous,  Mr.  Rijnhart  said  he  had  fallen  asleep ; 
so,  as  usual,  Rahim  dismounted  and  took  him  from  his 
father's  arms  in  order  that  he  might  not  be  disturbed 
until  the  tent  was  pitched  and  his  food  prepared.     I 


248  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

had  also  dismounted  and  spread  on  the  ground  the  com- 
forter and  pillow  I  carried  on  my  saddle.  Eahim  very 
tenderly  laid  our  lovely  boy  down,  and,  while  I  knelt 
ready  to  cover  him  comfortably,  his  appearance  at- 
tracted my  attention.  I  went  to  move  him,  and  found 
that  he  was  unconscious.  A  great  fear  chilled  me  and 
I  called  out  to  Mr.  Rijnhart  that  I  felt  anxious  for 
baby,  and  asked  him  to  quickly  get  me  the  hypodermic 
syringe.  Rahim  asked  me  what  was  the  matter,  and 
on  my  reply  a  look  of  pain  crossed  his  face,  as  he  has- 
tened to  help  my  husband  procure  the  hypodermic.  In 
the  meantime  I  loosened  baby's  garments,  chafed  his 
wrists,  performed  artificial  respiration,  though  feeling 
almost  sure  that  nothing  would  avail,  but  praying  to 
Him  who  holds  all  life  in  His  hands,  to  let  us  have  our 
darling  child.  Did  He  not  know  how  we  loved  him 
and  could  it  be  possible  that  the  very  joy  of  our  life, 
the  only  human  thing  that  made  life  and  labor  sweet 
amid  the  desolation  and  isolation  of  Tibet — could  it 
be  possible  that  even  this — the  child  of  our  love  should 
be  snatched  from  us  in  that  dreary  mountain  country — 
by  the  cold  chill  hand  of  Death?  What  availed  our 
efforts  to  restore  him?  What  availed  our  question- 
ings? The  blow  had  already  fallen,  and  we  realized 
that  we  clasped  in  our  arms  only  the  casket  which  had 
held  our  precious  jewel;  the  jewel  itself  had  been 
taken  for  a  brighter  setting  in  a  brighter  world;  the 
little  flower  blooming  on  the  bleak  and  barren  Dang 
La  had  been  plucked  and  transplanted  on  the  Moun- 
tains Delectable  to  bask  and  bloom  forever  in  the  sun- 
shine of  God's  love.    But  oh !  what  a  void  in  our  hearts ! 


DAEKNESS  249 

How  empty  and  desolate  our  tent,  which  in  the  mean- 
time had  been  pitched  and  sorrowfully  entered!  Poor 
Eahim,  who  had  so  dearly  loved  the  child,  broke  out 
in  loud  lamentations,  wailing  as  only  orientals  can,  but 
with  real  sorrow,  for  his  life  had  become  so  entwined 
with  the  child's  that  he  felt  the  snapping  of  the  heart- 
strings. And  what  of  the  father,  now  bereft  of  his  only 
son,  his  only  child,  which  just  a  few  moments  before 
he  had  elapsed  warm  to  his  bosom,  knowing  not  how 
faint  the  little  heart-beat  was  growing?  We  tried  to 
think  of  it  euphemistically,  we  lifted  our  hearts  in 
prayer,  we  tried  to  be  submissive,  but  it  was  all  so  real — 
the  one  fact  stared  us  in  the  face;  it  was  written  on 
the  rocks;  it  reverberated  through  the  mountain  si- 
lence:   Little  Charlie  was  dead. 

As  I  sat  in  the  tent  clasping  the  fair  form  of  my 
darling,  Mr.  Eijnhart  tenderly  reminded  me  that  the 
Tibetans  do  not  bury  their  dead,  but  simply  throw 
the  body  devoid  of  clothing  out  upon  the  hillside  to 
be  devoured  by  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of 
the  air.  If  the  men  whom  so  recently  we  had  seen 
and  whose  actions  were  so  suspicious,  should  come  to 
rob  us,  they  would,  he  feared,  dispose  of  our  darling's 
body  as  was  their  custom,  and  that  would  be  to  us  a 
still  greater  trial  than  the  loss  of  our  goods;  and  so, 
reluctantly  and  tenderly  he  suggested,  to  avoid  such  a 
calamity,  that  our  precious  little  boy  should  have  a 
Christian  sepulture  on  that  very  day.  Kneeling  to- 
gether we  prayed  that  God  who  loved  us  and  whose 
children  we  were,  would  make  us  strong  and  brave. 
Our  drug  box,  emptied  of  its  contents,  and  lined  with 


250  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

towels,  served  as  a  coffin,  which  I  myself  prepared,  while 
Mr.  Rijnhart  and  Eahim  went  to  dig  the  grave.  With 
hands  whose  everj'^  touch  throbbed  with  tenderness  I 
robed  baby  in  white  Japanese  flannel,  and  laid  him  on 
his  side  in  the  coffin,  where  he  looked  so  pure  and  calm 
as  if  he  were  in  a  sweet  and  restful  sleep.  In  his  hand 
was  placed  a  little  bunch  of  wild  asters  and  blue  pop- 
pies which  Eahim  gathered  from  the  mountain  side, 
and  as  the  afternoon  wore  away  he  seemed  to  grow 
more  beautiful  and  precious;  but  night  was  coming 
on  and  dangers  threatened,  and  the  last  wrench  must 
come.  Many  of  his  little  belongings  were  put  into  the 
coffin,  accompanied  by  our  names  written  on  a  piece  of 
linen  and  on  cards.  Then  there  was  the  agony  of  the 
last  look.  Our  only  child,  who  had  brought  such  joy 
to  our  home,  and  who  had  done  so  much  by  his  bright 
ways  to  make  friends  for  us  among  the  natives — to 
leave  his  body  in  such  a  cold,  bleak  place  seemed  more 
than  we  could  endure.  As  the  three  of  us  stood  over 
the  grave,  the  little  box  was  lowered.  Mr.  Eijnhart 
conducted  the  burial  service  in  the  native  tongue,  so 
that  Eahim  might  understand,  and  the  cold  earth  of 
Tibet,  the  great  forbidden  land,  closed  over  the  body 
of  the  first  Christian  child  committed  to  its  bosom — 
little  Charles  Carson  Eijnhart,  aged  one  year,  one 
month  and  twenty-two  days.  Mr.  Eijnhart  and  Eahim 
rolled  a  large  boulder  over  the  grave  to  keep  wild  ani- 
mals from  digging  it  up,  and  obliterated  as  well  as  pos- 
sible all  traces  of  a  recent  burial.  There  was  another 
reason  for  this.  The  natives  often  bury  goods  when 
their  transport  animals  break  down,  and  robbers  search 


DARKNESS  251 

for  booty  wherever  they  find  the  surface  of  the  ground 
disturbed.  If  such  should  discover  our  little  grave  we 
knew  they  would  disturb  it,  and  in  their  disappointment 
desecrate  it  with  wanton  indifference.  When  the  funeral 
was  over  we  went  to  the  tent,  but  could  we  eat  food? 
could  we  drink  tea?  could  we  close  our  ears  to  the 
frenzied  mourning  of  Eahim?  We  could  only  say, 
"  Lord  we  are  stricken  with  grief,  we  cannot  see  why 
this  should  be,  but  help  us  to  say  '  Thy  will  be  done.' " 
Less  than  a  month  afterward  we  realized  that  the  All 
Loving  had  dealt  very  kindly  with  us  in  taking  our 
little  darling  when  we  were  comfortable,  when  we  had 
plenty  of  food  for  him,  a  tent  to  sleep  in  and  horses  to 
ride  on;  for  later  we  found  ourselves  with  barely 
enough  common  food  to  exist  on  for  a  few  days,  while 
we  traveled  on  foot,  Mr.  Rijnhart  carrying  on  his  back 
a  heavy  load. 

When  night  came  on  the  sky  was  unusually  dark. 
What  more  fitting  than  a  nocturnal  storm  after  the  in- 
ward tumult  of  the  day?  The  thunder  rolled,  the 
lightning  flashed,  while  from  the  sable  clouds  in  tor- 
rents fell  the  rain,  which  as  the  winds  grew  colder,  was 
congealed  into  snow.  We  could  not  sleep.  We  could 
only  think  of  our  precious  one  and  be  thankful  that  the 
body  from  which  the  vital  spark  had  fled,  had  no  power 
to  feel  the  chill  of  the  mountain  blast.  The  little  fel- 
low's bed  had  always  been  made  of  blankets  and  furs, 
while  every  precaution  had  been  taken  to  exclude  any 
draft  from  his  corner,  and  now  what  need  had  we  to  be 
careful?  No  need,  for  he  slept  not  M'ith  us,  but  in 
another  world,  free  from  all  care,  and  future  sorrow- 


252  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ing.  Dear  child,  now,  as  then,  it  is  still  well  with  thee. 
On  arising  the  following  morning  how  I  missed  him, 
for  there  was  no  little  boy  to  dress,  no  one  to  joyously 
relish  his  food,  watching  the  spoon  go  backwards  and 
forwards  for  every  fresh  spoonful.  When  the  time  came 
for  departure  we  took  a  sorrowful  farewell  of  the  little 
grave  with  its  protecting  boulder  of  strength.  It 
seemed  impossible  to  tear  ourselves  away,  knowing  that 
every  step  took  us  further  from  the  spot  that  held  our 
most  precious  treasure,  with  the  conviction  that  we 
should  probably  never  return  there  again.  Before  leav- 
ing we  covenanted  that  by  God's  help  we  would  seek 
to  be  instrumental  in  sending  out  another  missionary 
to  Tibet,  in  the  name  of  our  little  boy.  Mr.  Eijnhart, 
instead  of  mounting  first  and  having  Baby  handed  to 
him  as  was  his  custom,  tenderly  placed  me  in  the  sad- 
dle, and  all  three  of  us  sobbing,  we  tore  ourselves  away. 
Following  the  stream  we  saw  some  bears  with  their 
cubs  digging  for  roots — and  again  we  felt  thankful  for 
the  strong  boulder  over  the  little  grave.  If  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart  could  speak,  he  would  wish  to  say  some  word  in 
tribute  to  his  little  son,  but  since  his  voice  is  silent, 
what  more  fitting  than  to  close  this  chapter  by  a  quota- 
tion from  his  diary,  dated  August  23,  the  day  of  our 
departure,  from  this,  to  us,  the  most  sacred  spot  in 
Tibet  ?  It  reads  thus :  "  To-day  we  started  with 
broken  hearts,  leaving  the  body  of  our  precious  one 
behind  in  regions  of  eternal  snow,  where  the  mother 
of  the  Yangtse  Kiang  flows  tranquilly  past.  His  grave 
is  on  the  western  bank  of  one  of  the  southern  branches 
of  the  Mur-ussu,  at  the  foot  of  the  Dang  La  moun- 


DARKNESS  253 

tains,  a  little  over  two  hours  north  of  the  mineral 
springs  of  the  Dang  La,  and  about  ten  hours'  travel 
from  the  nearest  Jcopa  encampment  in  the  Lhasa  dis- 
trict under  Nagch'uk'a." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA. 

Accosted  by  Official  Spies — Our  Escape — The  Natives 
Buy  Copies  of  the  Scriptures — Our  Escort  to  the 
Ponbo's  Tent. 

From  the  north  it  occupies  a  period  of  several  days 
to  climb  slowly  to  the  summit  of  the  Dang  La,  and 
after  the  first  sudden  steep  descent  on  the  south  the 
road  leads  down  gradually  for  days,  and  is  compara- 
tively easy  traveling  for  both  man  and  animal.  Though 
it  was  warm  when  the  sun  shone  brightly,  on  the  night 
of  August  25  there  was  almost  an  inch  of  frost  and  the 
firewood  was  wet.  Some  of  us  had  to  go  supperless  to 
bed,  and  could  not  have  any  breakfast,  but  on  the  road 
Topsy  caught  a  large  hare,  and  in  one-half  hour  we 
approached  the  first  Tibetan  encampment,  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  Dang  Chu,  whose  downward  course  we 
had  been  following.  After  four  hours  we  crossed  it 
and  campel  on  the  west  bank.  Shortly  before  cross- 
ing two  men  heavily  armed  came  over  and  rode  up 
close  behind  us,  then  returned  to  the  opposite  bank, 
and  as  they  did  not  speak  to  us,  we  presumed  they  had 
been  spying  our  movements.  A  considerably  lower  alti- 
tude had  provided  abundance  of  fuel,  and  the  day  being 

25d 


BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA  266 

warm  we  halted  and  took  advantage  of  the  welcome 
opportunity  of  making  bread,  and  having  a  delicious 
meal  of  rice  and  hare.  As  Topsy  had  provided  the  lat- 
ter she  was  not  forgotten. 

Although  we  had  been  seen  by  the  people  of  the  large 
encampments  about  us,  no  one  came  near  us  and  we 
were  not  anxious  to  court  interference,  so  stayed  away 
from  their  tents.  In  the  night  one  of  our  horses  most 
inopportunely  died,  and  the  next  morning  Eahim  and 
Mr.  Rijnhart  were  compelled  to  walk  and  ride  alter- 
nately. After  having  been  on  the  road  about  three 
hours,  we  were  met  on  a  beautiful  slope  by  eight  mounted 
Tibetans,  who  were  armed  with  guns  and  swords,  and 
looked  very  different  from  any  other  Tibetans  we  had 
ever  met.  They  were  all  very  dirty,  wore  sheepskin 
gowns,  girt  so  high  that  as  they  sat  on  horseback  their 
knees  were  bare.  Some  of  them  had  their  hair  done 
up  in  a  queue  ornamented  with  rings  of  ivory  or  silver 
set  with  coral,  all  bound  around  their  heads;  while 
others  had  their  bushy  locks  hanging  about  their  faces, 
giving  them  the  appearance  of  wild  men.  They  all 
used  snuff,  being  very  dirty  about  it,  plastering  it  over 
the  nostrils  and  upper  lip.  As  we  rode  along  they 
turned  and  rode  with  us,  asking  such  questions  as, 
"  Have  you  any  merchandise  ?  "  "  Where  are  you  go- 
ing?" They  were  soon  joined  by  two  others  from  the 
valley  who  were  both  well  dressed,  but  not  any  cleaner 
than  their  comrades.  After  having  reviewed  the  situ- 
ation two  of  them  rode  on  ahead  and  in  a  short  time 
were  lost  to  sight,  evidently  having  gone  to  report  our 
advent  to  their  chief,  for  we  were  satisfied  that  this 


256  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

was  a  small  party  of  attaches  of  the  government  at 
Nagch'uk'a,  who  were  watching  to  keep  any  foreigners 
from  entering  their  domains,  Mr.  Rijnhart,  Rahim 
and  myself  took  care  thenceforth  as  we  traveled  to  con- 
verse only  in  a  language  which  the  Tibetans  did  not 
understand,  and  after  discussing  the  situation,  we  de- 
cided to  push  on  just  as  far  as  we  were  able  that  day. 
So  not  even  stopping  for  lunch,  on  we  went,  until  we 
were  weary  and  tired,  especially  Rahim,  who  refused 
to  ride  in  the  presence  of  others  while  his  master 
walked.  When  we  neared  a  river,  one  of  the  men  came 
to  tell  us  that  when  we  camped  near  its  banks  we  were 
to  remain  until  their  two  companions  returned  from 
Nagch'uk'a  with  permission  for  us  to  proceed;  where- 
upon Mr.  Rijnhart  informed  him  that  we  were  going  to 
see  the  official,  thus  following  a  conviction  established 
by  much  experience,  that  it  is  better  to  go  to  head- 
quarters than  deal  with  petty  chiefs  who,  having  no 
independent  authority,  are  compelled  to  be  obedient 
to  their  superiors  and  therefore  arbitrary. 

When  we  had  forded  the  Shak  Chu  we  camped 
about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  spot  where  the 
Tibetans  had  now  pitched  their  ragged  brown  tent. 
They  were  all  very  friendly,  for  they  came  over 
and  sat  freely  about  our  tent-fire,  chatting  with  Rahim 
and  through  him  with  Mr,  Rijnhart,  who  did  not  wish, 
under  the  circumstances,  to  be  familiar  with  them,  re- 
fraining from  going  either  out  to  them  or  inviting 
them  to  come  in.  They  told  Rahim  that  no  foreigner 
had  ever  passed  that  place,  and  they  did  not  intend  to 
allow  us  to.    Their  plans  were  not  commensurate  with 


BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA  257 

their  intentions,  for  in  the  dead  of  the  night  while  they 
slept  soundly,  we  arose  quietly,  packed  our  loads,  took 
down  our  tent  when  we  were  just  ready  to  start,  and 
mounting  our  ponies,  rode  away.  The  moon  gave 
enough  light  to  avoid  the  pitfalls,  with  which  were  in- 
terspersed those  small  tufts  of  grass  that  make  it  so 
difficult  to  ride  among  them  without  plunging  in  the 
mire.  Silently  our  little  caravan  ascended  along  a 
stony  trail,  the  Khamlung  La,  and,  as  the  blush  of 
dawn  overspread  the  landscape,  we  had  begun  the  de- 
scent on  the  other  side,  scrambling  through  a  very  stony 
road  with  large  boulders  that  made  it  hard  for  us  to  get 
our  loaded  horses  past  in  safety.  Presently  we  had 
reached  a  beautiful  plain  dotted  with  tents  and  merg- 
ing into  low  hills,  the  whole  clothed  with  green  grass, 
a  crystal  stream  flowing  through  it  bubbling  over  its 
bed  of  small  stones.  A  man  well  dressed  in  pulu,  wear- 
ing ornaments  enough  to  indicate  wealth,  as  far  as  in 
this  country  a  man  can  have  wealth,  rode  up  in  a  very 
friendly  manner,  informing  us  that  the  stream  was  the 
Sapo  Chu,  and  that  the  district  was  called  Sapo.  He 
pointed  to  his  tents,  of  which  there  were  five,  and  in- 
vited us  to  stay  near  him,  in  order  that  we  might  do 
some  trading,  so  we  halted  five  hundred  yards  from 
his  encampment.  The  population  of  Sapo  is  estimated 
at  one  hundred  and  fifty  tents,  and  the  chief,  who  lived 
west  from  our  camp,  pays  tribute  to  the  Chinese  am- 
bassador at  Lhasa.  When  we  first  halted,  the  ground 
was  very  wet  from  the  frost  which  glistened  on  every 
blade  of  grass,  so  we  postponed  pitching  our  tent  until 
it  was  dry,  and  while  we  waited  our  guards  of  the  previ- 


258  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ous  night  were  seen  galloping  swiftly  towards  us.  Hav- 
ing arrived  they  dismounted  and  throwing  themselves 
on  the  ground  beside  us,  they  laughed  heartily,  telling 
us  that  we  were  smart  to  have  escaped  from  them  in 
that  way.  A  wreath  of  smiles  also  covered  Rahim's 
face,  for  he  with  ourselves  felt  a  little  dubious  about 
they  way  they  would  receive  our  decamping  as  we  did; 
but  so  thoroughly  do  the  Tibetans  enjoy  outwitting 
their  neighbors  that  though  they  were  the  sufferers  they 
displayed  their  native  characteristic  in  approval. 

We  spent  two  days  in  this  locality,  having  pleasant 
intercourse  with  the  inhabitants,  and  doing  consider- 
able bartering,  for  we  were  in  need  of  meat,  fresh  but- 
ter and  milk.  For  the  first  time  among  Tibetans  we 
had  brought  to  us  for  sale  some  legs  of  mutton.  In 
the  Koko-nor  only  the  whole  sheep,  and  never  a  part 
of  it,  can  be  bought.  The  most  useful  articles  for  bar- 
tering here  were  Wuchai  hhatas  and  red  broadcloth, 
the  latter  being  used  for  making  collars,  for  trimming 
boots,  and  to  adorn  the  headdress  of  the  women.  We 
traded  some  Tankar  boots  for  the  kind  used  in  this 
locality,  and  Eahim  bought  a  prayer-wheel,  made  of 
silver  set  with  coral  and  stones. 

We  thought  the  people  were  very  filthy  as  they  pre^ 
sented  the  appearance  of  never  washing  their  faces ; 
but  they  brought  their  good  horses  to  the  river  near  us 
and  after  having  driven  them  into  a  deep  place  where 
only  their  heads  were  above  water,  they  gave  them  a 
thorough  cleaning  and  left  us  to  wonder  why  they  did 
not  consider  water  was  good  for  human  beings  as  well 
as  for  horses. 


BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA  259 

The  clothing  of  Tibetan  women  in  all  parts  of  Tibet 
is  made  after  the  same  pattern,  so  that  little  variation 
except  in  headdress  is  noticeable  even  in  districts  most 
widely  separated.  In  some  localities,  however,  aprons 
are  worn  and  in  others  little  sleeveless  jackets.  But 
the  women  here  attracted  our  attention  at  once  by  a 
peculiar  fashion  of  headdress.  We  had  often  read  of 
the  women  smearing  their  faces  with  a  repulsive  cos- 
metic of  black  sticky  paste  in  order  that  by  their  beauty 
they  might  not  allure  the  lamas  from  their  devotions, 
but  these  women  here  with  the  same  purpose,  in- 
stead of  painting  had  their  hair  arranged  so  that  it  fell 
over  the  face,  hiding  it  from  view.  Parted  in  the  center 
it  was  woven  in  fine  plaits  from  the  middle  of  the 
forehead  on  either  side,  and  the  plaits  were  fastened 
together,  forming  meshes  like  a  coarse  veil,  the  two 
sides  being  separate.  When  they  wished  from  co- 
quetry or  otherwise  to  cover  the  face,  they  pulled  the 
veil  of  hair  down,  first  one  and  then  the  other  side, 
fastening  the  two  sections  opposite  the  chin  by  means 
of  a  button,  making  a  distinctly  original  mask  through 
which  their  bright  eyes  could  see  everything,  but  could 
not  be  seen.  It  was  rather  amusing  to  watch  a  good- 
looking  young  woman  or  girl  in  her  pulu  gown  and 
ornaments,  hastily  pull  her  veil  of  plaits  over  her  face 
when  a  lama  or  a  stranger  approached.  Sometimes  the 
action  was  a  gesture  of  grace,  accompanied  by  a  smile 
which  flashed  across  her  face  and  in  her  eyes.  A  cheery, 
good-natured  woman  of  about  thirty-five  came  to  offer 
for  sale  a  little  wooden  bucketful  of  fresh  milk,  ask- 
ing about  three  times  as  much  for  it  as  she  expected 


260  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

to  receive,  while  we  offered  as  much  less  in  the  same 
proportion  as  we  expected  to  give,  whereupon,  as  was 
also  the  custom,  she  put  it  down  and  seated  herself  near 
the  fire  to  enjoy  the  general  conversation.  After  about 
an  hour  she  took  the  bucket  up,  thereby  intimating 
that  we  were  to  complete  the  bargain,  when,  lifting  the 
cover  she  discovered  that  the  precious  liquid  had  all 
leaked  out.  Everyone  laughed  at  her  and  said  she  de- 
served the  loss  as  she  had  asked  too  much  for  the  milk; 
in  fact  she  joined  heartily  in  the  laugh  herself.  The 
women  came  freely  to  our  tent  and  sat  around  our 
camp-fire.  As  most  of  their  own  tents  were  across  the 
stream  they  would,  when  going  home,  sit  down  beside  the 
bank,  remove  their  cloth  boots  and,  gathering  up  their 
skirts,  trip  across  on  the  stones,  laughing  and  chatting 
merrily  all  the  time.  The  men  who  came  about  us  were, 
in  common  with  their  race,  anxious  to  drive  a  bargain, 
but  they  were  above  the  average  in  intelligence.  A 
certain  number  of  them  were  able  to  read  and  to  our 
surprise  manifested  an  ardent  desire  to  secure  copies 
of  the  Scriptures  in  the  Tibetan  character.  In  no  other 
part  of  Tibet  had  we  ever  been  offered  money  for  the 
books,  but  here  people  came  from  far  and  near  anxious 
to  get  them  and  offering  in  return  silver,  or  anything 
else  we  might  wish  to  ask.  Many  of  Mrs,  Grimke's 
text  cards  were  here  distributed,  and  I  look  back  on 
our  stay  among  those  friendly  people  with  great  pleas- 
ure, remembering  the  promise  that  "  My  word  *  *  * 
shall  not  return  unto  me  void."  The  Word  of  God  has 
been  scattered  for  the  first  time  among  them,  and  we 
do  not  know  what  far-reaching  results  will  follow. 


BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA  261 

The  people  in  Sapo  have  a  greater  admiration  and 
reverence  for  Jerimpoche,  the  great  incarnation  at 
Trashil'unpo,  than  they  have  for  the  Dalai  Lama. 
From  this  district  pilgrims  go  frequently  to  worship 
Jerimpoche,  hence  there  is  a  highway  leading  directly 
across  the  country.  The  people  suggested  our  follow- 
ing that  route,  saying  that  a  lama  was  about  to  start 
for  Shigatsze  in  a  short  time  and  we  could  go  with 
him.  However,  we  had  told  our  guides  that  we  were 
going  to  see  the  chief  at  Nagch'uk'a,  and  to  deviate  to- 
wards another  place  would  give  rise  to  suspicion,  per- 
haps getting  us  into  trouble;  besides  which  this  other 
road  probably  presented  the  same  obstacles  as  the  road 
we  had  at  first  intended  to  follow.  While  trading  here 
we  made  use  for  the  first  time  of  the  Tibetan  coin 
called  chong  ka,  a  round  beaten  silver  coin  divided  by 
lines  into  eight  parts  which  are  cut  when  small  pieces 
are  wanted.  Eight  of  these  coins  are  worth  one  Chi- 
nese tael.  Rupees  were  also  used  in  that  locality,  and 
nearly  every  man  had  a  pretty  leather  purse,  often  set 
with  corals,  in  which  to  carry  coins. 

While  we  journeyed  the  following  day  attended  by 
three  soldiers,  it  stormed  furiously,  and  Mr.  Rijnhart 
and  Rahim  walked  the  whole  distance.  We  met  several 
people  on  horseback  who  invariably  stopped  us,  and 
inquired  if  we  wished  to  buy  any  horses  or  sheep. 
We  were  reminded  of  the  men  who  visited  Hue 
and  Gabet,  and  wanted  to  buy  saddles  of  them  but  were 
really  spies.  We  saw  one  man  on  horseback  carrying 
a  bright  red  umbrella,  showing  how  Chinese  civiliza- 


262  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

tion,  in  some  of  its  varied  forms,  has  found  its  way 
into  remote  corners  of  the  great  Empire. 

From  our  road  as  we  wearily  journeyed  along,  we 
caught  glimpses  of  the  beautiful  Chomora  Lake  at  times 
hidden  from  view  by  the  hills,  but  in  its  quiet  recess, 
suggesting  calmness  and  rest  on  its  shores  away  from 
the  toil  of  traveling,  which  since  baby  was  gone  had  lost 
its  charms.  The  journey  became  tedious  and  life  had  no 
longer  for  us  the  rosy  hues  that  sweet  childhood  reflects 
upon  it.  Beautiful  rivulets  babbled  near  the  roadside 
which  skirted  the  hills,  and  finally  we  camped  near  tents, 
whose  dwellers  cheerfully  gave  Rahim  some  fuel  in  ex- 
change for  a  JcJiata,  while  near  us  without  any  tents 
camped  our  guards,  now  only  two  in  number.  The 
next  morning  when  we  had  traveled  about  three  hours, 
after  crossing  a  low  pass,  we  were  suddenly  confronted 
by  nearly  forty  men,  who  had  pitched  a  tent  and  were 
evidently  awaiting  our  coming.  Associating  the  tent 
with  the  removal  of  his  load,  our  most  lively  horse 
went  straight  up  to  it,  literally  into  the  arms  of 
the  men,  and  Eahim  went  quickly  to  drive  him  back, 
but  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  Mr.  Eijnhart  also 
went  over.  The  Tibetans  gathered  about  him  and  one 
of  them,  well-dressed  in  pulu,  having  in  his  hand  a 
prayer-wheel,  profusely  invited  him  to  enter  the  tent 
to  drink  tea,  the  others  seconding  the  invitation.  Feel- 
ing that  this  was  a  ruse  to  have  us  stop,  my  husband 
laughingly  passed  it  off,  saying  that  we  had  our  loaded 
horses  to  look  after,  and  that  in  a  short  time  we  would 
be  camping  anyway.  They  then  said  their  ponbo,  or 
chief,  was  coming  to  see  us,  and  received  for  reply  that 


BEYOND  THE  DANG  LA  263 

we  were  on  our  way  to  see  him.  Only  the  great  tact  and 
finesse  used  at  that  time  prevented  collision.  Mr.  Eijn- 
hart  put  them  in  good  humor  by  giving  one  of  the 
men's  prayer-wheels  a  turn  in  the  right  direction, 
thereby  showing  his  knowledge  of  their  ceremonial. 
Thus  amid  the  most  pleasant  politeness  on  either  side, 
we  went  our  way,  leaving  them  kindly  disposed,  yet 
staring  in  consternation  because  we  had  passed  a 
large  outpost  of  soldiers  designed  to  prevent  our 
journeying  further  towards  ISTagch'uk'a.  A  man 
soon  passed  us  on  the  gallop,  and  we  presumed 
he  was  on  his  way  to  notify  his  ponho  that  the 
peling  or  Englishman  (the  only  name  all  for- 
eigners are  known  by  in  that  part  of  Tibet),  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  beyond  the  guard,  who  had  probably 
received  orders  not  to  use  any  violence  towards  us. 
After  having  gone  some  distance  we  were  overtaken  by 
several  of  the  men  who  rode  alongside  us,  and  conversed 
pleasantly  and  agreeably.  A  violent  hail-storm  driving 
in  our  faces  compelled  us  to  allow  the  horses  to  stand, 
when  they  immediately  turned  their  backs  to  it,  shel- 
tering the  rider's  face.  Our  companions  dismounted 
and  crouched  down  in  the  shelter  of  their  horses,  pull- 
ing their  capacious  gowns  over  their  faces,  thus  impro- 
vising a  wrap.  Crossing  a  plain  in  which  we  had  Lake 
Chomora  on  our  left  we  saw  many  camels  and  yak, 
and  clustered  around  the  sheltered  nooks  of  the  hills 
the  familiar  black  tents  of  the  nomads.  We  knew  we 
were  approaching  Nagch'uk'a,  an  important  district  of 
the  province  of  Inner  Tibet,  governed  directly  from 
Lhasa,  a  fact  which  explained  the  vigilance  that  had 


264  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

been  exercised  over  us  since  our  coming.  A  blinding 
snowstorm  towards  evening  necessitated  our  selecting 
a  camp  just  before  we  had  reached  the  houses  of  Nagch'- 
uk'a  village,  and  we  tented  in  the  midst  of  a  large  en- 
campment on  a  small  piece  of  sward  surrounded  by 
hummocks  of  grass.  Some  of  the  men  we  had  previously 
seen  at  the  outpost  tent  came  around  the  fire  and  in- 
formed us  that  we  were  to  remain  tented  there,  be- 
cause in  the  morning  their  two  ponhos  were  coming 
to  see  us.  Mr.  Rijnhart  replied  that  we  would  arise 
and  have  our  breakfast,  pack  our  loads,  and  if  by  that 
time  the  ponho  had  not  arrived  we  would  slowly  make 
our  way  to  him,  that  it  made  no  material  difference 
where  we  met  him,  but  we  could  not  long  await  his 
pleasure. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

naqch'uk'a 

Government  of  Nageh'uk'a — Under  Official  Surveil- 
lance— Dealings  With  the  Ponbo  Ch'enpo — We  Are 
Ordered  to  Return  to  China — Our  Decision. 

The  village  of  Nagch'uk'a  beside  which  we  were 
camped  is  situated  south  of  Chomora  Lake  in  the  Lhasa 
district  and  contains  about  sixty  houses  built  of  mud 
and  brick,  but  most  of  its  people  live  in  black  tents, 
preferring  a  nomadic  life.  The  monastery  of  Shiabden 
adjoins  the  village,  but  the  number  of  its  priests  we 
were  unable  to  learn.  Nagch'uk'a  is  governed  by  a  lama 
who  is  the  representative  of  the  Dalai  Lama  and  is 
changed  every  three  years.  Associated  with  him  is  also 
a  lay  official  supposed  to  be  Chinese.  This  latter  has 
virtually  little  power  of  his  own,  everything  of  import- 
ance being  settled  according  to  the  decree  of  the  great 
dignitary  from  Lhasa.  Though  the  well-dressed  Icopas 
who  had  endeavored  to  prevent  our  proceeding  on  our 
journey  had  exerted  their  utmost  to  convince  us  of  their 
authority,  we  knew  that  as  yet  we  had  not  met  anyone 
who  really  had  any  power  to  stop  us,  as  the  ponho 
ch'enpo  of  ISTagch'uk'a  is  a  man  of  too  high  rank  to 
travel  any  distance  from  his  home  to  meet  two  unknown 

265 


266  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

persons  with  such  a  small,  inconspicuous  caravan  as 
ours.  The  previous  day's  hard  traveling  had  prepared 
us  for  an  undisturbed  night's  rest,  and  the  sun  was  shed- 
ding its  warmth  on  our  tent  and  over  the  tussocks 
of  grass  upon  which  hung  diamonds  from  the  snow  and 
frost,  when  Eahim  awakened  to  remember  that  we  were 
expecting  to  see  the  ponho  that  day,  or  very  soon  at 
least.  An  excited  cry  of  sahil)  at  our  tent  door  aroused 
us,  and  the  boy  informed  us  that  a  large  number  of  Tib- 
etans were  erecting  a  tent  near  by.  Upon  peering 
through  the  door  we  saw  pitched  first  one  beautiful 
white  tent,  and  then  another,  amid  the  greatest  com- 
motion. While  our  tea  was  being  boiled  three  of  our 
traveling  companions,  or  so-called  guards,  came  to  in- 
form us  that  their  official  had  ridden  over  and  was  in 
a  neighboring  tent,  and  invited  us  to  Jcali,  Jcali,  i.  e., 
slowly  visit  him.  At  about  ten  o'clock,  mounted  on  a 
noble  chestnut  horse  richly  caparisoned  with  red  and 
gold,  and  accompanied  by  a  large  retinue,  the  ponho 
ch'enpo  of  Nagch'uk'a  rode  from  a  black  tent  over  to  his 
own  official  one,  where  shortly  afterwards  we  were  in- 
vited to  come  to  see  him.  We  had  in  the  interim  dis- 
cussed the  wisdom  of  my  being  present  at  the  interview, 
and  had  finally  decided  that  we  would  both  go,  together 
with  Eahim;  accordingly  we  donned  our  best  clothing 
and  having  mounted  our  ponies,  rode  over  to  the  beauti- 
ful tents. 

We  were  led  to  the  larger  of  the  two,  a  white  one 
embroidered  with  dark  blue  and  white  with  capacious 
awnings,  altogether  the  best  tent  I  have  ever  seen.  On 
our  arrival  near  the  entrance    several    }:opas    dressed 


NAGCH'UK'A  267 

neatly  in  dark  red  pulu,  with  red  boots  came  forward 
to  meet  us.  Some  grooms  took  charge  of  our  ponies, 
and  we  were  ushered  into  the  tent,  to  find  the  furnish- 
ings of  the  interior  in  keeping  with  the  exterior ;  beauti- 
ful rugs  and  mats  lined  the  sides  to  the  door,  while 
the  further  end  was  completely  covered  with  very  rich 
Turkish  rugs;  upon  a  dais  several  inches  in  height, 
composed  of  mats  filled  with  wool,  sat  the  ponho 
ch'enpo,  and  at  his  left  side  the  second  chief  who  is 
supposedly  a  Chinaman,  but  in  this  instance  was  not. 
The  former  was  a  handsome  young  lama  about  thirty- 
five  years  of  age  with  fine  cut  features,  small  black 
moustache  and  shaven  head.  He  was  dressed  in  rich 
brocaded  Chinese  silks.  The  other  was  an  old  man 
with  gray  hair  worn  in  a  queue,  a  large  gold  earring 
pendant  from  his  left  ear.  He  also  was  dressed  in  rich 
silks,  and  wore  a  circular  hat. 

They  invited  us  to  take  seats  in  front  of  which  were 
little  carved  tables,  and  a  good-looking,  intelligent 
young  Icopa  extended  his  hand,  asking  for  our  basins 
which  we  brought  forth  from  our  gowns.  As  a  mark 
of  honor  the  tea  was  poured  into  our  basins  from  the 
same  pot  from  which  the  ponho  received  his.  We  pre- 
sented to  him  a  satin  Tchaia  with  pictures  of  three  bud- 
dhas  on  it,  which  he  accepted,  looking  a  little  surprised 
at  our  knowledge  of  the  customs.  He  told  us  that  no 
peling  had  ever  been  there  before,  that  he  could  not 
permit  us  to  go  any  further  into  Tibet,  and  that  we  must 
return  over  the  same  route  we  had  come  by.  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart  told  him  he  was  not  English,  that  he  was  Dutch, 
that  he  was  not  a  traveler  just  passing  through  the 


268  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

country,  but  had  lived  among  the  Tibetans  for  years 
and  added  that  we  would  not  return  to  China  as  he 
wished  us  to.  The  chief  looked  perplexed,  but  replied 
that  he  had  no  power  to  forcibly  prevent  our  going  on, 
but,  did  he  allow  us  to  proceed,  he  would  be  beheaded. 
In  this  way  oriental  officials  endeavor  to  compel  sub- 
mission to  their  desires,  taking  it  for  granted  that  no 
one  wishes  to  be  the  cause  of  a  man's  losing  his  life.  At 
this  Mr.  Rijnhart  laughed  and  said  he  was  conversant 
with  their  customs,  and  that  in  their  sacred  books  a 
man  is  forbidden  to  destroy  life,  even  that  of  a  louse, 
and  remarked  how  much  in  unison  with  that  teaching 
it  would  be  for  their  Dalai  Lama  to  have  him  beheaded, 
thereby  destroying  a  life  of  such  high  degree !  The 
young  chief  turned  to  his  confreres  and  said  how  strange 
it  was  to  see  a  foreigner  so  different  from  any  peling 
they  had  ever  seen  before ;  we  knew  their  customs,  spoke 
their  language,  wore  their  clothes,  and  even  had  read 
their  sacred  literature.  He  said  to  us  that  did  we  go 
on,  he  would  be  required  to  send  word  ahead,  and 
that  a  chief  of  greater  power  than  he  would  meet 
us  and  have  the  authority  to  stop  us.  We  told  him 
we  had  no  desire  to  visit  Lhasa,  that  we  were  willing  to 
be  blindfolded  when  near  the  sacred  city,  as  we  had  been 
informed  at  Tankar  by  officials  from  Lhasa,  that  we 
might  go  to  within  one  day's  journey  of  the  capital  and 
remain  as  long  as  we  wished,  provided  we  did  not  at- 
tempt to  enter,  nor  cast  our  eyes  upon  the  five-domed 
golden  temple  of  the  Dalai  Lama.  Our  conference 
lasted  a  long  time,  the  tea  in  our  basins  being  renewed 
as  politeness  demanded ;  and  when  we  rose  to  withdraw. 


NAGCH'UK'A  269 

nothing  definite  had  been  settled,  except  that  we  posi- 
tively refused  to  retrace  our  steps,  Mr.  Kijnhart  adding 
that  he  would  prefer  being  beheaded  to  returning  by 
the  route  over  which  we  had  come. 

Almost  immediately  on  our  return  to  our  own  tent 
some  of  the  Jcopas  brought  us  a  khata,  a  bag  of  rice,  one 
of  flour,  two  large  bricks  of  good  tea,  and  a  skin  con- 
taining four  pounds  of  butter  with  a  message  from 
their  ponbo  informing  us  that  the  gifts  were  from  his 
hand,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  flocks  were  driven  in  a 
big  fat  sheep  would  also  be  given  us.  We  bade  the 
messengers  thank  their  chief,  and  gave  them  as  a  return 
present  for  the  time  being,  a  beautifully  bound  copy  of 
the  Gospels,  accompanied  by  a  khata.  That  the  book 
was  accepted  and  prized  was  to  us  a  source  of  satisfac- 
tion. Often  my  thoughts  go  back  to  the  ponbo  of 
Nagch'uk'a  with  the  copy  of  the  Gospels  in  his  tent, 
and  I  wonder  whether  it  has  yet  brought  its  message 
to  him,  and  muse  on  the  influence  it  may  yet  wield 
among  the  ponbo' s  people.  That  evening  when  it  was 
growing  dusk,  a  group  of  soldiers  were  stationed  in 
front  of  our  tent  about  a  hundred  feet  from  us,  and 
shortly  afterwards  another  group  took  their  place  the 
same  distance  away  on  the  opposide  side.  The  ponbo 
was  evidently  taking  every  precaution  against  our  escap- 
ing in  the  night  again,  something  we  had  not  the  slight- 
est intention  of  attempting;  and  we  felt  thankful  that 
we  did  not  need  to  put  the  iron  hobbles  on  our  ponies, 
for  they  would  not  be  stolen  from  us  that  night,  as  our- 
selves and  all  we  possessed  were  being  so  thoroughly 
guarded  by  the  official's  soldiers. 


270  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Our  tent  was  pitched  in  a  level  place  which  was  lower 
than  the  surrounding  hummocks,  and  would  certainly 
be  flooded  should  a  storm  arise.  Besides,  there  being 
no  running  water  near  us,  the  following  morning, 
watched  from  the  ponho's  tents  by  his  men,  we  packed 
our  loads,  took  down  our  tents  and  moved  to  the  bank 
of  a  pretty  brook  of  circling  course,  upon  whose  edge 
we  decided  to  settle  down  among  the  many  tents  already 
there.  What  a  state  of  excitement  the  men  were  in  when 
they  saw  us  preparing  to  move,  but  as  soon  as  our  in- 
tention was  plain  to  them  they  did  not  interfere.  It  was 
a  beautiful  morning.  While  all  the  preparations  were 
being  made,  and  some  of  the  goods  were  being  moved, 
I  sat  on  a  hillock  enjoying  the  warm  sunshine,  while 
before  us  stretched  green  hills  dotted  with  innumerable 
black  tents,  and  behind  were  scattered  groups  of  gaily 
dressed  servants  of  the  Lhasa  government.  Upon  ar- 
rival at  our  new  camping-ground,  we  pitched  both  our 
tents,  and  used  our  rugs  to  make  us  as  comfortable  as 
possible,  expecting  to  stay  for  awhile  and  receive  com- 
pany. Some  of  the  ponho's  men  came  over  to  inform 
us  that  their  chief  was  glad  we  had  moved  our  tent  to 
a  good  place,  as  where  we  had  been  was  low  and  unpleas- 
ant, but  that  we  were  not  to  move  again  until  we  started 
for  China.  This,  they  said,  was  the  expressed  wish 
and  command  of  the  chief.  Evidently  the  tent  dwellers 
in  that  vicinity  had  also  received  their  instructions  not 
to  have  any  communication  with  us,  because,  contrary 
to  our  experience  in  other  places,  not  a  single  man  or 
woman  from  any  of  the  black  tents  came  to  barter  or 
chat  with  us;  only  the  attaches  of  the  government  vis- 


NAGCH'TJK'A  271 

ited  us  and  we  realized  that  we  were  completely  ostra- 
cised. Feeling  that  if  we  remained  there,  or  pursued 
our  Journey  further  toward  the  south,  we  would  be  simi- 
larly treated,  and  as  the  object  of  our  going  had  been 
to  come  into  contact  with  the  people,  to  study  their 
needs  and  not  merely  to  travel,  we  feared  it  would  be 
frustrated  by  the  orders  of  the  chiefs.  Had  we  considered 
it  best  we  might  have  pushed  on  further  for  we  had 
abundance  of  food,  but  the  strain  of  always  being 
guarded  by  soldiers  and  of  being  met  by  petty  officials 
who  endeavored  to  turn  us  back,  would  necessarily  prove 
trying.  Thus  our  desire  to  mingle  freely  with  the 
people  being  unattainable,  we  decided  either  to  winter 
in  I^Tagch'uk'a  could  we  gain  permission,  or  yield  to  the 
ponho's  desire  for  us  to  return  towards  China  and  win- 
ter some  place  on  the  road.  Having  decided  in  this 
manner,  when  next  we  visited  the  poribo,  we  were  in- 
clined to  yield,  but  did  not  find  him  so  polite  as  on 
our  previous  visit,  though  perhaps  it  was  owing  to  our 
imagination.  Our  tea  was  now  poured  from  a  different 
tea-pot  from  that  out  of  which  his  was  poured,  and  Mr. 
Eijnhart  remembered  the  custom  of  the  lamas,  praying 
a  person  to  death  with  the  aid  of  aconite,  and  conse- 
quently drank  little.  All  our  efforts  to  obtain  permis- 
sion to  remain  during  the  winter  in  that  locality  were 
in  vain,  but  the  chief  agreed  to  our  following  the  Ja- 
lam  (tea  road)  towards  Ta-chien-lu,  though  when  we 
suggested  fresh  horses  being  given  us  for  our  tired  ones, 
he  said  yak  were  best  to  use  on  that  road.  We  left  for 
our  own  tent  again  without  having  come  to  any  definite 
arrangement.    The  chief  even  refused  to  allow  Rahim, 


272  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

who  was  a  Tibetan,  to  go  towards  Ladak  to  his  home, 
but  insisted  that  we  must  all  three  return  together.  On 
our  return  to  our  tent  we  had  a  conference  and  decided 
that  we  would  not  go  again  to  see  the  pon'bo,  but  that  we 
would  just  stay  indefinitely  until  he  came  to  us,  and 
arranged  everything  to  suit  our  desires  and  not  his  own. 
In  the  meantime  we  and  our  horses  would  enjoy  a  re- 
freshing rest. 

The  kao-yeh,  or  secretary  of  the  pon'bo,  and  a  Tibet- 
anized  Chinaman  came  over  the  following  day  to  ask 
us  upon  what  condition  we  would  journey  towards  Ta- 
chien-lu.  We  replied  that  we  were  to  be  provided 
with  three  guides  who  knew  the  road,  our  tired  horses 
were  to  be  exchanged  for  fresh  ones,  and  we  were  to 
be  given  two  extra  ones,  as  we  were  setting  out  on  a  jour- 
ney of  several  months  which  our  own  ponies  would  not 
stand  unless  we  gave  them  a  long  rest.  The  result  of 
our  interview  was  that  the  next  day  four  of  our  horses 
were  traded  and  we  received  two  extra  ones,  after  which 
we  were  invited  again  to  the  chief's  tent.  During  the 
conversation  he  informed  us  that  he  knew  there  were 
several  peling  countries,  and  telling  them  off  on  his 
fingers  he  gave  us  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  outside  world,  composed,  he  said,  of 
the  following  countries:  England,  London,  Paris, 
France,  Italy  and  Tien-chu-kiao,  the  latter  being  the 
Chinese  name  for  the  Eoman  Catholic  religion!  This 
from  a  lama  and  one  of  the  highest  officials  in  the  land, 
is  another  sample  of  the  deep  and  superior  knowledge 
with  which  western  Theosophists  believe  the  lamas  to 
be  endowed.    How  ignorant  must  the  mass  of  the  popu- 


NAGCH'UK'A  273 

lation  be  who  have  never  had  the  educational  privileges 
of  their  exalted  teachers,  and  how  much  in  need  of  the 
education  and  knowledge  that  go  hand  in  hand  with 
the  gospel  of  Christ !  While  we  were  supplying  the 
secretary  data  for  his  report  to  Lhasa  of  our  name, 
country,  etc.,  several  men  came  into  the  tent,  each  car- 
rying one  of  the  following:  a  bag  of  rice,  one  of  flour, 
a  very  large  bag  of  tsamha,  a  brick  of  tea,  and  several 
pounds  of  butter,  and  set  them  down  before  us.  The 
chief  then  told  us  these  were  for  our  use  on  the  journey, 
adding  that  two  fat  sheep  would  be  brought  us  in  the 
evening.  We  thanked  him,  but  having  all  the  food  we 
could  possibly  require  we  accepted  only  the  sheep  and 
butter,  so  he  added  another  lump  of  the  latter.  Shortly 
afterwards  we  arose  to  go,  realizing  that  we  had  passed 
a  very  pleasant  time  with  these  chiefs,  who  really  had 
been  as  kind  to  us  as  their  superior  at  Lhasa  would 
allow  them  to  be,  only  being  compelled  to  be  appar- 
ently disagreeable  in  refusing  us  permission  to  remain 
or  proceed. 

We  had  told  the  ponho  that  we  would  leave  the  day 
following,  if  our  guides  were  ready,  so  we  reckoned  up 
with  Rahim  that  evening,  for  according  to  agreement, 
he  was  to  go  on  to  Ladak  if  we  were  compelled  to  re- 
turn to  China.  We  gave  him  40.65  ounces  of  silver, 
Tankar  weight,  a  carbine  and  cartridges,  a  horse  with 
a  saddle,  and  as  much  food  as  he  wanted.  His  plan 
was  to  travel  with  us  the  first  day,  then  branch  off 
towards  Sapo,  and  from  there  to  Trashil'unpo ;  for  the 
chief  absolutely  refused  to  allow  him  to  remain  in 
Nagch'uk'a  after  we  were  gone,  or  to  go  from  there 


274  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

towards  his  home,  but  he  would  allow  him  to  go  on  with 
us  half  a  month's  journey  to  Tashi  Gomba,  then  return 
to  Nagch'uk'a  with  the  guides,  and  proceed  to  Ladak 
if  he  wished.  As  Rahim  considered  a  month's  extra 
traveling  as  unnecessary  as  it  was  undesirable,  he  pre- 
ferred adhering  to  his  own  plan. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ON   THE   CARAVAN   ROAD 

The  Start  from  N'agch'uk'a  With  New  Guides — Fare- 
well to  Our  Last  Friend — Rahim  Leaves  for  Ladak — 
Fording  the  Shak  Chu  Torrent — Reading  the  Gospels 
— A  Day  of  Memories. 

There  are  three  great  highways  leading  from  Nagch'- 
uk'a  to  China,  the  first  being  the  Chang-lam,  or  long 
road,  through  the  Ts'aidam  to  Tankar,  which  was  form- 
erly traversed  by  the  tribute  on  its  way  to  Pekin.  This 
is  the  road  we  followed.  In  times  past  there  was  an- 
other road  through  the  Ts'aidam  to  Tankar  called  the 
oriental  road,  the  one  that  Hue  and  Gabet  pursued. 
The  second  important  highway  runs  to  Jyekundo  and 
through  the  Horba  and  Derge  provinces  on  to  Ta-chien- 
lu,  where  it  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Pei-lu,  or 
northern  road.  The  third  highway  is  the  one  through 
Ch'amdo  and  Batang  to  Ta-chien-lu,  called  the  tea  road, 
though  often  caravans  from  Lhasa  to  China  do  not  touch 
Nagch'uk'a,  but  go  directly  to  Ch'amdo.  This  is  the 
road  taken  now  by  the  tribute  from  Lhasa  and  also 
from  Nepaul.  There  are  two  other  roads  to  Jyekundo, 
and  another  going  south  of  Ch'amdo,  but  joining  with 
the  third  of  the  above  mentioned  highways  at  Jehu. 

375 


276  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

On  account  of  its  more  direct  route  we  had  expected  to 
go  towards  Ta-chien-lu  along  this  third  road,  but  the 
ponho  rather  desired  us  to  pursue  our  journey  by  way  of 
Jyekundo,  and  we  felt  it  made  little  difference  to  us 
which  highway  we  followed,  as  our  plan  was  to  winter 
some  place  en  route.  Having  insisted  upon  being  pro- 
vided with  three  reliable  guides,  and  having  been  prom- 
ised them,  we  did  not  prepare  to  depart  until  they  had 
made  their  appearance.  About  eleven  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  September  6,  they  came,  mounted  on  three 
small  graceful  ponies,  each  leading  another  pony  upon 
which  was  a  pack  saddle  with  food  and  pots.  They 
also  had  two  sheep  which  with  ours  would  provide  us 
with  fresh  meat  for  some  time.  In  the  presence  of  a 
large  interested  crowd  of  spectators,  Nyerpa,  the  ponbo's 
steward,  told  the  three  guides  what  was  expected  of 
them,  that  they  were  to  take  us  to  the  lamasery  of 
Tashi  Gomba  (or  as  they  called  it,  Tashi  la  bu  Gomba) 
where  they  were,  if  possible,  to  obtain  permission  from 
the  hanpo  for  us  to  remain  all  winter,  whence  they 
themselves  were  to  return  to  their  homes.  Could  they 
not  procure  the  desired  permission,  they  were  to  pro- 
ceed to  Jyekundo  with  us,  and  upon  arrival  there,  we 
would  give  them  food  for  the  return  journey  and  a  pres- 
ent of  money  if  they  served  us  well.  When  all  was 
understood  and  agreed  to,  Nyerpa  introduced  our  men 
to  us,  and  told  us  the  oldest  of  the  three  was  a  mamha, 
that  he  was  the  leader,  hence  responsible  for  the  other 
two.  Immediately  every  one  began  to  help  us  prepare 
for  departure,  so  we  had  no  opportunity  to  do  more  than 
take  a  hasty  glance  at  our  guides,  but  noticed  they 


ON  THE  CAEAVAN  ROAD  277 

"were  alert  and  quick  in  their  movements.  The  chief 
came  out  to  say  good-bye,  and  watched  our  departure  in 
a  blinding  snow-storm  until  we  were  beyond  his  ken. 

Our  caravan  now  consisted  of  ourselves  well  mounted 
on  fresh  ponies,  our  three  guides,  our  seven  loaded  ani- 
mals and  two  sheep,  while  Eahim  rode  along  to  avoid 
any  one's  suspicion  that  he  intended  to  do  other  than  to 
accompany  us  toward  China.  Our  route  lay  first 
east  for  four  hours  and  a  half,  then  north  across 
the  Tzar  Chu,  a  small  stream  flowing  southward, 
passing  in  its  course  Shiabden  Gomba.  We  camped 
some  distance  east  from  Chomora  Lake,  in  a  quiet 
plain,  scattered  over  which  were  tents  and  to 
some  of  them  one  of  our  men  betook  himself  for  fuel. 

The  three  guides  were  dressed  in  sheepskin,  and  had 
extra  pulu  gowns  for  use  in  storms  to  protect  them- 
selves from  rain  and  hail.  The  mamba  was  about  forty 
years  of  age,  a  thin,  short,  wiry  man  with  a  wizened  face 
wearing  a  subdued  expression;  his  hair  was  hanging 
about  his  shoulders,  a  brass  case  full  of  medicines  across 
his  bosom,  and  a  bell  at  his  back.  He  wore  a  broad- 
brimmed  hat  with  a  peaked  crown,  made  of  a  light 
frame-work  covered  with  cloth,  and  tied  under  the  chin 
with  narrow  strips  of  red  cotton.  He  was  a  man  of  re- 
markable energy,  as  lively  as  a  little  boy,  and  was  almost 
incessantly  mumbling  prayers  and  turning  his  prayer- 
wheel  as  he  rode  along,  while  he  watched  the  earth  for 
peculiar  stones  to  make  medicines  of,  asking  us  to  give 
him  hints  on  points  of  medical  science  with  which  he 
was  not  conversant.  The  other  guides  were  younger, 
we  judged  about  twenty  years  of  age;  one  of  them  was 


278  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

poor,  but  so  willing  to  help  to  work  and  so  agreeable  in 
every  way,  even  when  working  hard  looking  so  pleasant, 
that  we  called  him  the  "  nice  boy."  The  second  one 
was  better  dressed,  but  so  unwilling  to  do  anything  when 
it  could  be  avoided  that  we  called  him  "  the  lazy  one." 
As  the  passing  days  made  us  more  cognizant  of  his  qual- 
ities even  this  appellation,  we  thought,  was  too  good  for 
him,  for  in  addition  to  being  lazy  he  was  the  filthiest  of 
the  filthy  in  his  actions  and  about  his  food,  even  put- 
ting sausage  meat  into  the  casings  when  the  latter  had 
been  simply  turned  but  not  washed.  All  the  guides 
were  armed  with  guns  and  swords.  There  was  a  quiet 
about  our  hearts  that  evening,  which  could  only  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last  day  of  Eahim's 
company  and  service,  but  we  overcame  the  tendency  to 
be  sad,  and  discussed  our  journey  together.  Eahim  im- 
pressed upon  our  three  guides  how  advantageous  it  would 
prove  to  them  if  they  put  forth  every  effort  to  help 
us  on  the  road,  and  retold  his  desire  to  reach  his  far- 
away home  without  any  unnecessary  wanderings;  hence 
his  determination  to  cut  across  country  and  reach  Shi- 
gatsze. 

The  following  morning  we  arose  early,  and  after 
tea  was  partaken  of  we  prepared  ourselves  as  well 
as  we  could  for  another  heart-wrench.  Words  seemed 
powerless  to  express  our  feelings.  We  could  but  grasp 
the  hand  of  the  last  friend  we  had  in  the  interior  of 
the  great  lone  land,  listen  to  his  "  good-bye  "  and  with 
tear-dimmed  eyes  watch  him  retire  from  us,  polite  to 
the  last,  making  his  salaams  as  he  led  his  horse  loaded 
with  bedding,  clothing,  food,  a  pot  and  a  Tibetan  bel- 


ON  THE  CAEAVAN  EOAD  279 

lows,  away  towards  the  Chomora  Lake,  around  which 
he  intended  to  travel,  always  keeping  it  between  him- 
self and  Nageh'uk'a,  and  then  make  his  way  across  to 
Sapo.  There  he  hoped  to  remain  until  he  found  com- 
pany with  which  to  journey  to  Shigatsze.  He  had  many 
misgivings  that  he  might  be  murdered  for  his  money, 
but  on  the  whole  was  cheerful  and  hopeful,  though 
lonely.  And  could  he  be  more  lonely  than  we,  as  we 
realized  that  another  link  which  bound  us  to  the  sweet 
past  at  Tankar  was  to  be  broken?  Our  two  Chinese 
had  long  since  deserted  us,  and  now  we  were  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  our  faithful  Eahim  who,  from  the  day  he 
reached  our  northern  home,  had  never  ceased  to  ingra- 
tiate himself  into  our  hearts.  The  boy  whose  nature 
had  been  mellowed  by  the  love  of  our  dear  little  Charlie, 
the  boy  who  had  accompanied  us  amid  dangers  innu- 
merable through  the  Ts'aidam  desert,  across  treacher- 
ous marshes  and  rivers,  and  over  laborious  passes,  and 
who  had  helped  to  share  our  sorrow  around  the  lone  lit- 
tle grave  north  of  the  Dang  La  mountains,  and  had 
mingled  his  bitter  tears  with  ours — the  last  friend  we 
had,  it  was  hard  to  see  him  go.  Trusty  Eahim,  with  thy 
dark  honest  face  and  flashing  eyes,  among  all  the  follow- 
ers of  the  Prophet  thou  wert  to  us  the  most  precious 
jewel!  God  grant  the  Truth  may  ripen  in  thy  heart, 
that  thou  mayest  yet  be  numbered  among  the  disciples 
of  the  Christ.  The  last  sight  we  caught  of  him  was  as 
he  disappeared  around  a  little  hillock  waving  his  hand. 
Did  he  ever  succeed  in  crossing  Tibet  and  reaching  his 
home  in  far-away  Ladak?  I  do  not  know;  but  I  have 
fondly  believed  he  did,  and  have  pictured  to  myself  his 


280  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

joyful  meeting  once  more  with  his  friends  who  had 
long  since  mourned  him  as  dead. 

Hastily  we  prepared  to  depart  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, with  nothing  human  to  comfort  us — only  our  dog 
Topsy  and  three  horses  remained  to  us  of  all  the  caravan 
that  left  Tankar.  We  went  on  into  a  strange  country 
with  strange  guides,  feeling  that  our  lives  were  in  the 
Father's  hands,  whose  work  we  had  come  to  do,  and 
willing  that  He  should  dispose  of  us  according  to  His 
will. 

We  met  immense  caravans  of  yak  with  loads  of  tea 
from  Jyekundo,  as  many  as  1,500  and  3,000  yak  in 
each  caravan,  with  the  merchants  well-dressed  and  well- 
mounted,  and  drivers  some  of  whom  were  women  and 
girls.  We  passed  an  encampment  of  traders  on  their 
way  to  Lhasa,  at  the  foot  of  Karma  Kumbum,  a  large 
mountain;  the  hills  around  were  covered  with  saddled 
yak,  all  black,  about  two  thousand  of  them,  while  on 
the  pretty  plain  was  a  village  of  large  white  tents,  or 
more  properly,  of  awnings  which  were  spread  out  over 
the  tea.  We  threaded  our  way  through  the  encamp- 
ment while  the  natives  in  their  picturesque  garbs  of 
pulUj  and  varied  headdresses,  held  the  large  dogs  in 
check,  or  drove  our  horses  from  among  theirs;  then  we 
climbed  a  steep,  stony  pass  over  the  afore-mentioned 
mountains.  The  usual  storm  with  vivid  lightning  and 
hail  swept  past  that  day,  and  while  we  stood  during  the 
severest  part,  our  "  nice  boy,"  his  horse  and  sheep  all 
rolled  together  on  the  ground,  and  the  hairpins  in  my 
hair  stung  my  head.  We  expected  to  see  the  boy  unable 
to  rise,  believing  he  had  been  killed  by  lightning,  but 


ON  THE  CAEAVAN  KOAD  281 

presently  he  and  the  animals  were  restored  to  their 
normal  position  and  upon  asking  him  what  had  hap- 
pened, he  said  his  horse  had  been  frightened  and  had 
fallen.  On  camping  that  evening  one  of  our  guides  on 
the  way  to  some  tents  for  fuel  saw  eight  robbers  heavily 
armed,  and  was  warned  against  them  by  the  nomads  in 
the  tent,  so  we  put  hobbles  on  our  horses  that  night, 
but  we  were  not  disturbed. 

September  ninth  presents  some  of  the  most  vivid 
reminiscences  of  the  two  weeks'  journey  with  those 
guides,  and  on  account  of  their  stupidity  at  fording 
rivers  is  intimately  associated  with  the  robber  disaster 
a  few  days  afterwards.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  the 
sun  bright  and  warm  peeping  over  the  hills  into  the 
valley  along  which  we  were  traveling,  hanging  drops  of 
silver  on  the  grass.  Pursuing  our  way  we  reached 
the  Shak  Chu  at  its  confluence  with  the  Dang  Chu,  the 
former  small,  but  the  latter  flowing  quiet  and  deep,  in- 
dicating a  difficult  ford.  The  guides  looked  across 
and,  judging  from  the  little  pathways  on  the  opposite 
side,  concluded  that  sometimes  the  two  streams  were 
forded  separately.  To  do  so  now,  however,  was  im- 
practicable, so  we  followed  down  the  Dang  Chu  which 
boiled  and  foamed  in  a  narrow  gorge  seemingly  angry 
at  being  thus  confined  by  the  rocks,  until  our  path  along 
its  edge  became  difficult  and  finally,  for  the  horses,  im- 
passable on  account  of  the  rocks  that  stood  in  our 
way.  Ordinarily  there  would  have  been  a  passage  be- 
tween the  rocks  and  the  river,  but  the  latter  being 
much  swollen  had  extended  its  waters  right  up  to  the 
rocks.     The  mamha  said  we  must  turn  back  and  cross 


282  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  two  rivers  at  all  hazards,  but  Mr.  Rijnhart  not  fa- 
voring this  proposal;  crept  over  the  rocks  to  see  what 
was  beyond,  and  returned  to  say  that  we  were  on  the 
proper  trail,  that  the  river  was  unusually  high  and  that 
since  the  horses  could  not  scale  the  rocks,  they  would 
have  to  be  driven  into  the  water  and  made  to  swim 
around  to  reach  level  ground  on  the  other  side.  Feel- 
ing it  was  somewhat  risky  to  trust  our  riding  and 
loaded  animals  in  the  boiling  torrent,  Mr.  Rijnhart 
made  an  experiment  with  his  own  horse.  Tying  a  long 
rope  to  the  horse,  he  retained  one  end  of  it  himself  and 
crawled  again  over  the  rocks  as  the  horse  made  its  way 
through  the  seething  waters,  prepared  to  pull  the  ani- 
mal ashore  should  it  be  swept  off  its  feet.  The  ex- 
periment was  successful,  both  landing  on  the  other  side 
of  the  rocks  in  safety. 

Mr.  Eijnhart  came  back  to  announce  the  result 
and  the  difficult  place  was  soon  passed  by  all, 
though  the  river  was  not  as  yet  crossed;  but  we 
soon  reached  a  spot  where  this  was  necessary  and 
where  apparently  caravans  were  accustomed  to  ford. 
The  mamha  and  the  two  guides  said  it  was  impossible 
to  cross  a  large  river  where  the  waters  were  confined 
in  so  small  a  space,  but  there  was  no  way  of  returning 
or  going  forward.  He  sat  still  on  the  horse's  back  to 
tell  over  his  beads  to  divine  whether  we  would  cross 
in  safety  or  not,  and  in  the  meantime  we  drove  our 
ponies  in,  while  his  horse,  being  evidently  of  the  same 
mind  as  its  rider,  barely  stepped  into  the  water  and 
then  stood  still.  My  horse  took  his  cue  from  the  mam- 
ha's,  going  only  a  few  steps  from  the  bank  and  then 


w 
o 

Q 

S 
m 

w 

o 
Pi 


ON  THE  CAEAVAN  ROAD  283 

refusing  to  move  farther,  until  Mr.  Rijnhart,  having 
reached  the  opposite  bank  with  our  loaded  animals, 
came  back  for  me.  Dragging  our  two  sheep  behind 
us,  while  the  mamha  dragged  his,  we  urged  on  the 
horses,  which,  striking  out  into  the  current,  had  to 
swim  hard  to  keep  from  being  swept  down.  This  was 
among  the  most  difficult  rivers  we  had  forded,  and 
glad  were  we  when  all  were  safely  across.  While  drink- 
ing tea,  and  attempting  to  dry  our  clothing,  we  were 
amazed  and  disgusted  to  see  two  of  our  loaded  horses 
across  the  river  quietly  grazing.  In  a  moment  when 
we  were  not  watching  them,  the  perverse  creatures  had 
recrossed  the  river,  and  we  happened  to  look  up  in  time 
to  notice  that  two  others  were  just  about  to  follow 
their  example.  Mr.  Eijnhart  had  to  ford  the  boiling 
torrent  again  to  bring  them  back.  It  will  scarcely  be 
wondered  at,  that  we  soon  began  to  associate  rivers  with 
disasters,  and  contemplated  the  crossing  of  them  with 
little  pleasure,  seeing  that  our  guides,  as  they  them- 
selves confessed,  were  unaccustomed  to  them,  living  as 
they  did  in  a  place  near  which  there  were  no  streams  of 
any  size,  and  never  having  forded  rivers  where  the 
horses  had  to  swim. 

Resuming  the  Journey  we  crossed  a  high  moun- 
tain, the  Shalop  Chercho,  and  camped  on  the  de- 
scent where  we  had  the  view  of  a  snowrange,  the 
Sokdee.  On  the  eleventh  we  ascended  another  moun- 
tain but  kept  on  climbing  to  cross  a  higher  one 
still,  the  Wang-ma-la,  with  snow  peaks  on  either  flank, 
encountering  during  the  ascent  a  severe  snowstorm 
through  which  nothing  was  visible,  and  in  which  we  had 


284  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

the  greatest  difficulty  not  to  lose  one  another.  We 
shortly  afterwards  crossed  the  Pon  Chu,  a  river  worthy 
of  notice  on  our  maps  (for  I  observe  it  is  not  marked 
on  that  of  the  Eoyal  Geographical  Society)  and  en- 
camped near  a  caravan  from  which  eignt  horses  had 
been  stolen  during  the  night.  Here  we  could  find  no 
fuel  to  boil  tea  either  in  the  evening  or  morning.  On 
the  twelfth  we  reached  a  large  tributary  of  the  Sok 
Chu,  which  we  crossed,  and  then  followed  up  the  main 
river  which  was  on  our  right,  meeting  parts  of  a  cara- 
van of  yak  upon  arrival  at  the  regular  ford.  As  a  large 
portion  of  the  caravan  proceeded  at  once  to  ford 
this  apparently  large  river,  we  sat  down  to  watch  them. 
The  foremost  yak  stood  on  the  river's  edge  until  the 
whole  number  came  rushing  down  the  incline  to  the 
bank,  crowding  and  crashing  their  loads  together.  The 
men  shouted  and  threw  stones,  some  large  dogs  took  to 
the  water,  and  the  first  yak  plunged  awkwardly  into  the 
stream,  the  others  follovzing.  When  they  had  passed 
the  deepest  part  of  the  river  they  stood  still,  letting  the 
cool  water  lave  their  sides  heated  with  the  day's  march, 
not  knowing  or  caring  if  their  precious  burden  of  tea 
did  get  wet,  or  of  greater  moment  still,  if  they  kept 
their  companions  behind  plunging  in  deep  waters,  en* 
deavoring  to  reach  a  comfortable  standing-place  where 
they  too  might  enjoy  the  cool  stream,  and  avoid  the 
stones  of  the  drivers.  How  thankful  we  were  that  we 
had  none  of  these  stupid,  perverse  animals  in  our  cara- 
van. Just  when  they  should  be  quick  they  lazily  stand 
still,  and  where  caution  is  expedient  they  push  and 
crowd  over  large  boulders  and  through  narrow  places, 


ON  THE  CARAVAN  ROAD  285 

each  one  trying  to  occupy  the  identical  place  for  which 
another  is  aiming,  all  rushing  promiscuously  with  their 
loads,  threatening  to  smash  to  pieces  everything  break- 
able. The  ford  was  gradually  freed  for  us,  the  last  yak 
carrying  over  the  drivers  who  had  patiently  stood  shout- 
ing and  throwing  stones,  and  we  were  ready  to  cross, 
having  first  taken  off  our  boots  and  stockings  that  they 
might  be  kept  dry.  Holding  our  feet  high  up  to  the 
saddle,  we  crossed  in  safety,  and  none  too  soon,  for  it 
began  to  snow,  and  we  could  barely  find  the  road.  Fur- 
ther on,  the  caravans  we  met  at  intervals  left  the  trail 
very  distinct,  and  seeing  black  tents  to  our  left  we 
camped  near  them,  a  short  distance  from  the  Sok  Chu, 
and  succeeded  in  procuring  milk,  sho  and  fuel. 

I  had  been  almost  unfit  for  traveling  for  several  days ; 
so,  although  our  guides  had  emphatically  refused  to 
rest,  we  halted  at  that  beautiful  place.  The  snow  was 
deep  the  next  morning,  and  we  could  see  the  women  and 
children  come  out  to  look  after  the  flocks  and  herds. 
Having  only  boots  and  gowns  on,  and  with  the 
soles  almost  worn  off  the  former,  they  were  shiv- 
ering with  the  cold.  If  they  could  be  taught  to 
prepare  the  wool  and  knit  comfortable  garments 
for  winter  wear,  how  much  easier  life  would  be 
for  them,  for  they  must  suffer  severely  in  the  win- 
ter months  at  altitudes  where  there  is  so  much  snow 
and  intense  cold.  This,  I  believe  after  careful  study, 
is  responsible  in  a  large  measure  for  the  small  families, 
for  many  children,  not  being  able  to  withstand  the 
severity  of  the  weather,  succumb. 

Our  next  camping-place  was  on  the  banks  of  the 


286  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Teng-nga  river,  near,  though  not  within  sight  of,  the 
Teng-nga  Gomba.  From  the  latter  there  were  several 
lamas  at  the  tents  near  which  we  were  camped.  The 
people  were  very  kind  to  us  there,  bringing  us  milk,  etc., 
warning  us  also  of  robbers  on  our  next  few  days'  jour- 
ney. They  accepted  with  alacrity  some  Gospels  we  gave 
them,  sitting  around  reading  them  with  the  mamba 
and  Mr.  Eijnhart.  A  nun  with  her  shaven  head  and 
plain  garb  minus  many  of  the  ornaments  the  Tibetan 
women  are  so  lavish  of,  took  a  copy  of  the  Gospels, 
but  could  not  read  a  word.  Our  mamba  doctored  a 
man  there  and  our  guides  left  one  of  their  sheep,  so 
that  they  might  have  meat  for  their  return  journey. 
Brigands  must  be  very  numerous  just  there,  because 
on  the  following  day  we  heard  of  fifty  of  them  having 
killed  several  men  and  driven  off  their  yak  with  loads; 
moreover  the  tea  merchants  we  met  and  camped  near, 
numbered  over  fifty  in  the  one  caravan,  such  a  large 
company  indicating  that  there  are  dangers  of  attack 
on  the  road.  After  following  the  Ta-o  Chu  through 
an  immense  plain,  we  camped  on  September  fifteenth 
in  a  deserted  tenting-place,  the  remains  of  the  stone 
and  clay  ranges  all  about  telling  us  that  the  nomadic 
people  favored  the  green  sward  near  the  little  stream, 
for  their  sheep  and  cattle.  They  were  evidently  either 
away  in  the  hills  on  account  of  robbers,  or,  because  the 
winter  was  approaching,  they  were  seeking  more  shel- 
tered spots  for  their  homes.  How  welcome  was  the  op- 
portunity to  rest  on  that  auspicious  day,  September 
fifteenth,  for  it  was  the  fourth  anniversary  of  our  mar- 
riage.    We  had  no  comfortable  parlors  into  which  we 


ON  THE  CAEAVAN  EOAD  287 

could  invite  our  friends,  and  no  friends  to  invite,  yet 
the  day  meant  so  much  to  us  that  we  must  celebrate 
it  even  amid  the  silence,  desolation  and  dangers  that 
surrounded  us.  For  a  time  we  forgot  all  about  robbers 
and  prepared  a  feast — a  rice  pudding  with  sultanas, 
sugar  and  butter  in  it,  which  we  shared  with  our  guides. 
What  memories  came  trooping  up  from  the  past,  of 
our  friends  in  America,  of  Kumbum  and  Tankar,  of 
Charlie,  and  of  all  the  joys  and  sorrows  that  had  come 
to  us  since  hand  in  hand  we  had  gone  forth  to  fulfil 
the  mission  to  which  we  had  been  called.  How  tenderly 
my  husband  spoke  of  the  mysterious  dealings  of  Prov- 
idence, and  of  his  faith  in  that  unchanging  love  which 
he  had  learned  to  trust,  even  where  he  could  not  trace. 
And  can  I  ever  forget  his  words  of  comfort  and  assur- 
ance to  me,  words  which  the  poet  has  thrown  into 
music : 

"  My  wife,  my  life!    Oh,  we  will  walk  this  world, 
Yoked  in  all  exercise  of  noble  end, 
And  so  through  those  dark  gates  across  the  wild 
Which  no  man  knows  !  " 

Little  did  I  realize  how  soon  he  was  to  pass  into  those 
dark  gates  leaving  me  on  the  dreary  wild  alone.  Even 
that  happy  day  was  marred  by  an  accident  which  hap- 
pened to  Mr.  Kijnhart,  who  trod  on  the  rusty  buckle 
of  a  saddle  and  as  a  result  suffered  intense  pain,  which 
was  much  augmented  when  the  time  came  that  he  had 
to  journey  on  foot.  The  weather  was  perfect  and  we 
enjoyed  talking  of  our  prospects  when  we  reached  Tashi 
Gomba,  where  the  maniba  said  he  was  almost  sure  we 
would  be  allowed  to  spend  the  winter.     The  following 


288  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

day  we  crossed  another  large  plain  at  the  eastern  ex- 
tremity of  which  we  forded  the  Dam  Chu,  a  beautiful 
river,  very  clear,  every  pebble  in  the  bottom  of  which 
we  could  distinctly  see.  Before  we  started,  wolves  in 
large  packs  howled  around  our  tent,  and  we  met  indi- 
vidual ones  on  the  road.  Topsy  chased  a  bear  only  a 
hundred  yards  from  us,  while  a  large  herd  of  wild  cat- 
tle were  scattered  around  us.  On  September  18  we 
had  snow,  hail  and  rain  while  we  crossed  a  mountain 
called  Gerchen  tsang  mo  la,  and  camped  near  a  large 
stream  of  which  the  marriha  did  not  know  the  name. 
None  of  our  guides  had  ever  been  this  far  on  the  road 
before,  but  had  received  directions  as  to  how  to  find 
the  lamasery  we  were  looking  for,  and  as  the  Ja-lam 
we  were  following  was  a  large  trail,  we  had  little  fear 
of  losing  our  way.  Our  three  guides  had  served  us 
faithfully  and  our  days  together  had  been  profitable 
to  both  them  and  Mr.  Eijnhart,  to  the  latter  especially 
in  the  language  and  character.  Every  day  when  even- 
ing came,  the  mamha  had  taken  his  bell,  little  drum 
and  a  book,  and,  sitting  in  the  far  corner  of  the  tent 
that  Eahim  had  used,  had  chanted  prayers  for  two 
hours  or  more.  The  "  lazy  boy "  had  not  improved 
on  acquaintance,  but  was  bearable,  the  other  two  more 
than  making  up  for  his  disagreeable  manner,  which 
sometimes  even  amounted  to  sulkiness.  The  unexpected 
manner  in  which  even  these  guides  were  lost  to  us  will 
be  told  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ATTACKED   BY   MOUNTAIN    ROBBERS 

We  Cross  the  Tsa  Chu — Suspicious  Visitors — A  Shower 
of  Bullets  and  Boulders — Loss  of  our  Animals — Our 
Guides  Disappear — The  Dread  Night  by  the  River. 

The  last  tent  people  and  caravans  which  we  met  had 
told  our  guides  that  we  were  approaching  a  large  river, 
the  Tsa  Chu,  and  had  given  the  directions  we  were 
to  follow,  in  order  to  reach  Tashi  Gomba,  which  they 
informed  us  was  on  the  bank  of  the  above  river,  assur- 
ing us  of  the  truth  of  the  statement  by  saying  that  the 
lamas  carried  water  from  the  river  to  make  their  tea. 
Having  traveled  over  one  rocky  mountain  after  another 
and  across  two  streams  flowing  south,  we  camped  on 
September  nineteenth  within  sight  of  a  large  range  of 
mountains  east  of  us.  How  imposing  these  latter  were, 
perpendicular  and  bare,  rugged  and  severe,  giving  us 
the  impression  that  along  their  edge  flowed  a  large 
river.  This  was  also  the  mamba's  opinion,  for  he  re- 
marked that  probably  at  their  base  was  the  mighty  Tsa 
Chu.  Next  morning  we  reached  a  little  stream  which 
the  guides  said  was  a  feeder  of  the  Tsa  Chu.  Follow- 
ing it  a  long  distance  by  the  side  of  rugged  mountains 
whose  peaks  were  barren  rocks  lost  in  the  clouds,  we 

289 


290  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

passed  a  large  mineral  stream  spreading  out  and  flowing 
down  the  liillside,  leaving  dark  brown  stains  on  the  rock 
and  stones  wherever  it  had  coursed,  and  eventually 
reached  the  Tsa  Chu,  where  a  large  tributary  flowed  into 
it.  Having  crossed  the  latter  with  very  little  difficulty, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  large  masses  of  rock  half 
concealed  by  the  water  almost  caused  the  loss  of  some 
of  our  ponies,  we  halted  on  the  bank  of  the  main  river, 
tightened  our  girths,  gauged  the  best  spot  for  fording, 
and  all  dashed  into  the  water  shouting  lustily  to  en- 
courage ourselves  and  the  horses.  Though  very  wide, 
the  river  was  not  more  than  two  and  a  half  feet  deep, 
and  the  current  was  neither  rushing  nor  strong  as  in 
some  other  rivers  we  had  recently  crossed,  hence  we 
congratulated  ourselves  on  our  good  fortune  in  having 
left  behind  us  the  last  large  river  to  be  forded  until  we 
should  pass  the  lamasery.  As  the  caravan  road  did 
not  skirt  the  river,  we  turned  aside  from  it  to  the  right 
and  followed  a  bridle  path  along  the  bank,  the  people 
having  given  the  information  that  in  half  a  day's  jour- 
ney down  the  river  from  the  ford,  yak  could  easily  reach 
the  lamasery  of  which  we  were  in  search. 

Our  march  that  day  had  been  a  wearisome  one  for 
us  all,  and  we  immediately  looked  for  a  suitable  place 
to  camp  where  there  was  good  fodder;  half  an  hour 
after  fording  we  found  one,  a  level  sward,  with  hills  be- 
hind us  covered  with  grass  and  firewood,  and  in  front 
of  us  the  Tsa  Chu.  Having  pitched  our  tents  on  the 
northeast  of  the  river,  we  roamed  about  enjoying  the 
gorgeous  view  that  presented  itself  to  us.  The  valley 
from  which  we  had  just  emerged  was  narrow ;  the  hills 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  EOBBERS  291 

and  mountains  on  either  side  were  ranged  against  the 
horizon  in  glittering  masses,  rugged,  fantastic  and  mul- 
tiform in  outline,  and  of  varied  tints,  the  brilliant 
green  of  the  sloping  pasture  land  mounting  gradually 
and  fading  into  the  delicate  purple  and  grey  of  the 
rocky  summits;  the  river  in  its  placid  onward  course 
suggested  peace  and  power;  the  hillocks  close  to  its 
edge  across  from  us,  seemed  with  their  side  garments 
of  deep  verdure  tapering  off  into  rocky,  sun-gilded 
crests,  like  monarchs  of  a  lower  rank  reflecting  the 
splendor  of  the  kingly  giant-like  elevations  whose  heads, 
towering  far  above,  were  crowned  with  azure  and  gold. 
Behind  us  again,  were  other  hills  clothed  with  beauty  in 
minute  detail,  from  the  massive  rocks  with  their  cling- 
ing lichens,  to  the  pretty  low  shrubs  covered  with  small 
leaves  and  yellow  flowers  like  miniature  roses.  The  lit- 
tle paths  intersecting  one  another  and  running  in  all 
directions  suggested  our  proximity  to  a  lamasery  or 
encampment,  and  in  anticipation  of  reaching  it  soon 
we  were  happy. 

Toward  nightfall  two  men  on  white  horses  emerged 
from  the  valley  we  ourselves  had  just  quitted,  and, 
instead  of  fording  the  river,  skirted  the  bank,  ar- 
riving at  a  spot  opposite  us,  where  they  reined 
in  their  horses  to  hold  converse  with  our  men.  The 
lazy  boy  went  to  the  river's  edge  and  talked  with  them, 
during  which  time  Mr.  Rijnhart  leisurely  took  a  good 
look  at  them  through  the  telescope.  They  were  heavily 
armed  with  guns,  spears,  and  swords,  had  no  saddle 
bags,  hence  were  not  travelers,  and  one  of  them  had 
his  face  painted  red  and  yellow.     While  they  talked 


293  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

they  indulged  in  snuff,  and  looked  too  closely  at  our 
ponies  to  make  us  feel  altogether  comfortable,  the 
inamha  standing  near  us  being  of  the  same  opinion  as 
ourselves.  Having  satisfied  their  curiosity  they  disap- 
peared over  the  hills  diagonally  from  the  river  down 
stream.  Immediately  the  guides  came  to  caution  us 
about  their  probable  intention  to  rob  us  that  night,  and 
themselves  prepared  to  meet  the  enemy  by  taking  down 
their  tent,  intending  to  sleep  outside  so  that  they  could 
watch  their  six  horses.  We  put  the  iron  hobbles  on 
ours,  tied  Topsy  behind  them,  and  Mr.  Rijnhart  slept 
in  the  door  of  the  tent  with  both  revolvers  ready  to 
frighten  anyone  who  should  come  about  during  the 
night.  It  was  the  very  last  time  we  used  a  tent.  The 
night  passed  but  no  noise  was  heard,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing, feeling  that  we  might  have  been  unduly  alarmed, 
we  bent  our  thoughts  and  hopes  on  the  lamasery,  the 
very  sound  of  Tashi  Gomba  having  now  become  as 
music  in  our  ears.  We  could  find  no  proper  road — only 
a  bridle  path  that  now  skirted  the  river^s  edge,  then  led 
up  to  well-nigh  inaccessible  places  and  circled  on  the 
slopes  of  steep  hills.  The  riding  was  unsafe  and  often 
we  had  to  rest  our  horses.  One  of  them  fell  and  his  en- 
tire load  had  to  be  removed  before  he  would  attempt  to 
rise,  even  then  remaining  complacently  as  he  had  fallen 
until  we  forcibly  aided  him  to  use  his  feet. 

About  noon  we  followed  a  road  down  to  the  river 
to  a  grassy  place  where  was  apparently  a  yak-trail, 
but  beyond  which  the  rocks  looked  as  if  thy  jutted 
into  the  river.  To  avoid  having  to  retrace  our  steps 
should  we  find  it  thus,  we  sent  the  lazy  boy  ahead  to  see. 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  EOBBEBS  293 

and  as  he  did  not  return  we  concluded  the  road  was 
passable;  so  drove  our  animals  across  the  grass,  over 
a  little  hillock,  to  find  the  boy  sitting  playing  with 
pebbles  beside  the  river,  near  a  spot  where  the  water 
boiled  against  a  cliff  that  rose  steep  and  straight  and 
impassable  from  its  watery  depths.  Mr.  Kijnhart  sug- 
gested fording  the  river  and  refolding  further  on,  but 
the  mamha  said  that  our  horses,  especially  the  one  that 
had  fallen,  tired  out  with  the  day's  travel,  would  be 
unable  to  stem  the  flood,  and  it  would  be  best  to  return, 
rest  there  on  that  grassy  spot  while  we  drank  tea,  and 
then  go  up  over  the  hills,  and  so  past  the  difficult  place. 
Knowing  the  wisdom  of  his  advice,  we  acquiesced,  and, 
having  arrived,  took  the  loads  off  our  horses;  then  the 
men  got  three  stones  to  rest  the  pot  on,  gathered  fuel 
and  began  to  prepare  our  lunch.  The  river  flowed  in 
front  of  us,  while  behind,  a  distance  of  seventy  feet 
from  the  former,  rose  cliffs  and  rocks  at  the  foot  of 
which  were  traces  of  old  camps,  such  as  ashes  on  the 
ground  and  smoke  on  the  stones.  We  reclined  in  the 
shade  of  the  cliff  until  the  tea  would  be  ready,  and 
Mr.  Eijnhart  said  suddenly  that  he  thought  he  heard 
men  whistling  in  the  characteristic  way  in  which  they 
drive  yak.  We  all  listened,  but  heard  nothing,  when, 
without  any  warning,  a  shot  rang  through  the  air,  the 
bullet  falling  in  the  water.  At  the  command  of  the 
mamha  the  two  boys  jumped  up  and  ran  to  drive  the 
horses  into  the  shelter  of  the  cliff,  where  they  could  be 
prevented  from  stampeding  on  the  little  road  leading 
up  to  the  robbers.  The  "  nice  boy  "  was  shot  almost 
immediately  through  the  right  upper  arm,  whereupon 


294:  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

we  all  promiscuously  sought  cover  at  the  side  of  the 
cliff.  Bullets  continued  to  fall  like  rain.  Immense 
boulders  were  hurled  down  from  the  heights,  any  one 
of  which  striking  us  would  have  crushed  us  beyond 
recognition,  while  accompanying  both  the  shooting  and 
the  hurling  of  the  rocks  there  were  yells,  piercing  and 
hideous,  which  only  Tibetan  robbers  know  how  to  utter. 
Mr.  Eijnhart,  determined  to  ascertain  the  direction 
from  which  the  bullets  were  coming,  and  who  was 
firing  them,  stepped  out  from  under  the  cliff  towards 
the  river's  edge  and  looked  up,  only  to  be  greeted  by  a 
bullet  which,  as  he  suddenly  stooped,  struck  the  ground 
behind  him.  He  quickly  returned  to  shelter,  but  in 
his  haste  ran  into  the  nook  where  the  guides  were 
crouched,  so  that  he  was  hidden  from  me,  as  a  project- 
ing angle  separated  my  nook  from  theirs.  There  I  was 
alone,  not  knowing  at  the  time  whether  my  husband 
had  been  killed  or  wounded,  or  whether  he  had  taken 
refuge  somewhere  under  the  cliff.  There  had  always 
been  an  implicit  understanding  between  us  that  I  was 
to  remain  just  where  he  left  me  in  case  of  peril  or 
danger,  relying  on  his  care  over  me  even  when  absent. 
So,  straining  myself  as  close  to  the  rocks  as  possible, 
I  waited  breathing  a  prayer  for  the  protection  of 
our  lives,  for  I  thought  my  husband  and  the  guides 
had  gone  to  parley  with  the  robbers.  After  what 
seemed  a  long  time,  the  firing  almost  ceased,  then 
a  final  volley  of  quick  shots  and  a  few  deafening 
yells,  followed  by  shouts  dying  away  in  the  dis- 
tance, told  us  that  for  the  immediate  present  the 
danger  was  over.     Mr.   Eijnhart  then  came  up   and 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  ROBBERS  295 

threw  himself  in  exhaustion  on  the  ground,  saying: 
"  Well,  we  have  lost  all  our  horses  except  three."  What 
a  sigh  of  intense  relief  I  heaved!  I  was  so  thankful 
to  see  him  unharmed  after  my  dreading  his  being  killed. 
"  Have  you  made  peace  with  them  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Why," 
he  replied,  "  I  have  never  seen  them,  except  when  I 
went  to  look  up  and  saw  three  men  behind  a  rock  with 
their  guns  resting  ready  aimed;  the  powder  flashed  in 
the  pan;  involuntarily  I  stooped,  and  then  sought  and 
remained  in  shelter,  attending  to  the  poor  boy's  arm, 
all  torn  and  bleeding." 

He  then  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  carefully  keeping 
close  to  the  rocks,  we  crept  to  where  the  guides  were, 
and  saw  that  three  of  the  horses  that  were  apparently 
saved  had  been  shot,  one  being  already  dead,  while 
another  was  shot  through  the  backbone  and  could  not 
rise.  Some  of  our  horses  had  absolutely  refused  to 
be  frightened  by  the  bullets  and  boulders  that  were 
cleverly  directed  by  the  wily  robbers,  to  divide  us  from 
our  horses  and  prevent  our  saving  them;  but  the  last 
shots  had  despatched  three  of  these  four,  so  that  we 
might  not  be  able  to  pursue  or  trace  the  thieves.  The 
guides,  who  understood  the  tactics,  had  managed  to 
save  three  of  their  ponies,  exposing  themselves  to  fire 
thereby,  but  we,  ignorant  of  the  natives'  way  of  robbing, 
imagined  they  would  come  dovra  from  above,  and  did 
not  try  to  save  our  horses,  though  it  is  manifest  that 
we  would  have  been  shot  had  we  interfered.  A  sorrow- 
ful, frightened  little  band  we  were,  grouj)ed  together  in 
the  cover  afforded  us  by  the  friendly  rocks,  the  wounded 
boy  tenderly  nursing  his  arm,  on  which  the  blood  had 


296  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

left  marks  little  darker  than  the  skin,  and  whose  face 
bore  besides  ihe  expression  of  pain,  that  of  hurt  sur- 
prise that  he  should  have  been  the  only  one  to  be  in- 
jured. We  managed  to  drag  the  pot  of  tea  into  shelter, 
where  we  quenched  our  thirst  and  ministered  to  the 
"  nice  boy,"  who  was  faint  from  loss  of  blood.  The 
mamba  said:  "Buddha  knows  that  the  men  will  re- 
turn for  our  baggage,  kill  us  all,  and  throw  us  in  the 
river."  Mr.  Kijnhart  walked  up  a  little  distance  to 
drive  back  the  old  grey  horse  which  was  straying  in 
the  direction  his  companions  had  gone,  and  quickly 
the  three  guides  prepared  for  departure.  The  lazy 
boy  shouldered  his  own  and  his  wounded  comrade's  gun. 
They  helped  the  latter  to  a  seat  on  a  pack-saddle,  their 
riding  saddles  all  having  been  stolen  but  one,  and, 
only  delaying  a  moment  to  answer  my  inquiry,  "Where 
are  you  going  ?  "  by  replying,  "  To  the  monastery  for 
many  men  to  come  with  us  to  find  the  robbers,"  they 
started  off  to  the  river.  Having  said  they  had  better 
stay  until  their  leader  returned,  I  called  Mr.  Eijnhart, 
but  when  he  arrived  at  the  spot  they  were  half  way 
across  the  river,  and  he  had  no  horse  with  which  to 
follow  them. 

Quietly  we  dragged  our  possessions  into  the  shel- 
ter of  the  cliffs,  tied  our  grey  horse  near  them, 
and  sat  down  to  drink  tea.  The  feeling  uppermost  in 
our  minds  was  one  of  thankfulness  that  our  lives  were 
spared,  and  that  we  were  unhurt  and  had  our  food 
and  bedding  left  us.  One  dead  horse  was  already  a 
prey  to  the  vultures,  while  the  pretty  black  horse  lay 
not  far  away,  paralyzed  from  an  injury  through  the 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  KOBBERS  297 

spine.  He  had  my  riding  saddle  on  him,  the  only  na- 
tive saddle  I  had  ever  found  comfortable,  and  suitable 
for  long  journeys.  The  chestnut  horse,  shot  through 
a  vital  spot,  and  in  pain,  wandered  to  the  grey  horse  for 
comfort,  lay  down  near  him,  neighed  good-byes  to  the 
black  horse,  laid  down  his  head  and  died.  We  were  now 
alone  with  our  grey  horse,  the  poorest  of  the  caravan, 
the  one  that  had  fallen  that  same  morning,  and  was 
really  the  cause  of  our  having  halted  at  that  grassy 
place.  Suddenly  we  missed  Topsy,  and,  upon  compar- 
ing our  knowledge  of  her  movements,  we  found  that 
we  had  last  seen  her  rushing  toward  the  road  when  the 
shots  were  fired.  She  had  always  been  accustomed  to 
run  after  an  animal  when  Eahim  went  to  have  some 
sport  with  the  gun,  and  we  feared  she  had  gone  off  with 
our  horses,  but  hoped  she  would  discover  her  mistake 
and  return.  It  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and,  talking  it  all  over  we  decided  to  stay  in  that  place 
until  the  next  day  to  see  if  our  guides  were  true  or 
not,  though  we  had  a  very  strong  suspicion  they  were 
not,  and  even  that  they  were  in  league  with  the  robbers, 
and  had  deliberately  led  us  into  ambush.  One  point 
was  certain,  either  they  had  been  treacherous  or  they 
had  not  known  the  road,  and  unconsciously  led  us 
along  that  bridle  path.  In  either  case,  the  ponho  of 
Nagch'uk'a  would  be  held  responsible  for  the  trouble, 
because  as  long  as  we  were  on  the  Caravan  Road  no 
harm  had  come  to  us,  and  Tashi  Gomba  is,  as  far  as 
I  can  learn,  on  that  highway ;  but  the  guides  had  pur- 
posely or  unwittingly  led  us  astray.  Owing  to  this 
uncertainty  of  the  intention  of  the  guides,  we  concluded 


298  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

to  await  their  return  until  next  day  about  noon,  and 
then,  if  they  came  not,  to  prepare  to  travel  on  foot 
until  we  reached  the  lamasery.  But  then  came  the 
question,  where  was  the  lamasery  ?  "Were  we  on  the  cor- 
rect road  or  not  ?  How  far  away  from  it  were  we  ?  As 
the  afternoon  wore  away  we  kept,  by  means  of  the 
telescope,  a  fairly  good  lookout  for  the  approach  of 
human  beings,  whether  enemies  or  otherwise ;  but  even- 
ing came  on  and  we  had  seen  no  one,  though  we  had 
a  very  strong  feeling  that  we  were  being  watched  all 
the  time,  while  sounds  of  the  recent  shots  rang  in  our 
ears. 

The  robbers  were  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  we 
had  seven  loads  of  baggage  for  which  we  had  no  means 
of  transport,  as  were  also  the  guides,  and  we  had  no 
doubt  that  our  movements  were  being  spied  from  the 
hills  or  cliffs  about  us;  hence  we  had  some  fears  that 
they  might  return  to  possess  themselves  of  the  valu- 
ables. Our  loads  were  not  of  such  great  value  to  us 
that  we  cared  to  risk  our  lives  defending  them,  and 
the  place  had  such  associations  as  to  give  us  uncanny 
feelings,  so  we  decided  to  abandon  the  cliffs  for  the 
night,  when  darkness  obscured  our  movements.  Si- 
lently, not  speaking  above  a  whisper,  we  took  our 
bedding  to  the  edge  of  the  river,  where  there  was  a 
margin  of  stones  six  feet  wide  between  the  water  and 
a  shelving  bank  two  feet  high.  Spreading  our  rugs 
and  blankets  down,  and  covering  ourselves  well,  we 
rested  where  the  water  almost  laved  our  feet.  Eain 
fell  gently  most  of  the  night,  but  we  were  protected 
by  our  rubber  sheeting.    We  had  always  carried  on  our 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  KOBBERS   299 

persons  money  in  the  form  of  sycee^  bullion  silver 
ingots  of  various  weights,  and  if  we  had  been  discov- 
ered that  night,  we  intended  to  take  to  the  water,  and 
upon  reaching  the  other  bank,  make  our  way  to  tents 
for  aid.  The  night  was  very  long  and  dark,  no  object 
being  discernible,  and  no  sound  heard  but  the  rippling 
of  the  water  over  the  stones,  and  the  cry  of  some  ani- 
mal or  bird  unknown  to  us,  that  seemed  to  come  from 
above  among  the  cliffs,  and  like  a  sentry's  call  and 
answer  re-echoed  through  the  mountain  silence.  To- 
wards morning  it  ceased  raining;  a  grey  light  over- 
spread the  sky  and  transformed  the  river  into  a  sec- 
ond sky,  but  we  did  not  know  the  dawn  was  breaking, 
thinking  the  increasing  light  was  due  to  the  clouds 
dispersing.  Then  the  grey  light  slowly  sufEused  the 
whole  atmosphere,  and  we  could  discover  rocks  and 
cliffs  and  hills  standing  out,  first  indistinctly  against 
the  heavens,  and  then  in  dark  relief.  As  the  horizontal 
streaks  of  light  began  to  take  their  places  in  the  clouds 
over  the  mountains  we  arose  and,  dragging  our  bedding 
back  to  the  cliff,  were  welcomed  by  our  grey  horse,  and 
found  all  as  we  had  left  it.  We  wrapped  some 
blankets  about  us  and  crouched  down  until  it  was 
breakfast  time,  when  we  gathered  some  firewood  and 
made  our  tea. 

We  both  realized  the  magnitude  of  the  misfortune 
that  had  befallen  us,  and  each  endeavored  to  make 
light  of  it,  and  the  result  was  a  predominance  of 
brightness  rather  than  gloom;  although  we  were  al- 
most certain  that  our  guides  had  deserted  us,  and  that 
we  would  very  soon  have  to  find  our  way  on  foot  either 


300  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

to  the  lamasery  or  to  an  encampment  where  we  might 
hope  to  hire  some  animals.  Midday  came  with  bright 
sunshine,  so  we  undid  all  our  baggage  and  separated 
from  it  what  we  wished  to  take  with  us,  not  of  course 
all  we  wanted,  but  what  we  could  take  along,  because 
our  one  remaining  horse  was  incapable  of  carrying  a 
heavy  load.  It  was  very  difficult  to  reject  our  most 
cherished  possessions,  and  when  our  Bibles  of  years' 
use,  our  instruments  and  many  things  that  had  become 
a  part  of  our  being  had  to  be  laid  aside,  we  felt  it ;  but 
necessity  is  a  stern  master,  and  it  had  to  be.  We  se- 
lected enough  food  to  last  fifteen  days,  all  the  bedding 
needed,  one  large  and  one  small  pot,  some  dessicated 
soups,  beef  tea  and  condensed  milk,  a  change  of  cloth- 
ing and  the  diary  of  the  journey,  Mr.  Eijnhart's  Bible 
with  a  few  papers,  two  or  three  cherished  belongings 
that  had  been  loved  and  handled  by  our  darling  little 
boy,  and  a  few  sundries.  EvAything  else  that  was 
valuable  we  buried  under  stones  at  the  foot  of  the 
cliff,  and  left  in  one  comer  the  tents,  pack-saddles,  etc., 
hoping  that  we  might  meet  some  one  who  would  come 
back  with  us  to  get  the  things,  and  yet  feeling  all  the 
time  so  sure  that  the  robbers  were  watching  us,  ready  to 
swoop  down  like  eagles  after  their  prey  as  soon  as  we 
had  gone.  The  afternoon  wore  away,  the  sun  sank 
behind  the  hills,  and  the  shades  of  evening  brought  no 
guides,  but  did  bring  us  an  indefinable  aversion  to 
spending  another  night  in  that  place,  associated,  as  it 
was,  with  robbers,  where  sleep  would  be  altogether  out 
of  the  question.  We  placed  our  riding  saddle  on  our 
grey  horse,  and  on  it  piled  as  much  of  the  baggage 


ATTACKED  BY  MOUNTAIN  EOBBERS  301 

we  had  selected  as  he  could  possibly  carry.  Mr.  Rijn- 
hart  shouldered  the  remainder,  and  each  taking  in 
hand  a  staff  composed  of  half  a  tent-pole,  we  said  good- 
bye to  the  cliffs  and  retraced  our  steps  to  follow  the 
same  road,  up  which  the  horses  had  stampeded.  As 
we  were  passing  the  black  horse  he  tried  hard  to  join 
us  and  neighed  farewell  as  far  as  we  could  see  him. 
Mr.  Rijnhart  would  have  shot  him  out  of  mercy,  but 
I  begged  him  not  to,  for  I  could  not  bear  the  sound  of 
the  revolver  to  ring  out,  perhaps  to  give  notice  of  our 
whereabouts  to  some  travelers  overhead,  thereby  en- 
tailing more  trouble.  Cowardly,  it  is  true,  the  feeling 
was,  but  for  long  afterwards  the  sound  of  shooting 
brought  anything  but  pleasant  memories  to  my  mind. 


CHAPTER   XX 

OUE  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHEB 

The  Robbers'  Ambush— The  Worst  Ford  of  All— Foot- 
marks and  a  False  Hope — A  Deserted  Camp — The 
Bed  Under  the  Snow — Mr.  Rijnhart  Goes  to  Native 
Tents  for  Aid,  Never  to  Return. 

The  grassy  spot  beside  the  cliff  was  an  ideal  camp- 
ing place,  affording  shelter  from  the  cold,  bleak,  pierc- 
ing winds,  or  from  the  hot  rays  of  the  noonday  sun  on 
warm  days;  but  the  recent  occurrence  had  removed  all 
the  charms  nature  had  previously  possessed  for  us,  and 
we  were  glad  to  tread  our  way  slowly  up  the  trail  we  had 
come  down  the  day  before.  Ascending  even  so  insig- 
nificant an  incline  was  laborious,  for  instead  of  having 
our  sturdy  ponies  to  carry  us  up,  we  had  to  walk,  while 
Mr.  Rijnhart,  in  addition  to  shouldering  a  heavy  bur- 
den, had  to  drag  along  the  almost  spent  horse  with  his 
load,  an  impossible  task  had  I  not  been  behind  to  urge 
the  poor  animal  on  with  my  staff.  Soon  we  were  at 
the  top,  passing  the  robbers'  ambush  of  the  day  be- 
fore, and  a  beautiful  spot  it  was  behind  the  rocks,  a 
pretty  little  hollow  having  served  to  shelter  their  horses 
while  they  busied  themselves  in  obtaining  ours.  How 
many  men  there  had  been  we  could  not  tell,  but  we 

303 


PETRI'S  RTTNTTART 


OUR  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHER  303 

supposed  there  were  ten  or  twelve,  and  they  had  prob- 
ably been  following  and  watching  us  all  the  morning 
before  a  good  opportunity  for  robbing  us  without  danger 
presented  itself.  It  had  now  grown  dark,  but  there 
was  sufficient  light  to  enable  us  to  pursue  our  way  a 
short  distance,  when  we  stopped  to  camp,  because  we 
were  not  sure  whether  shadows  that  lay  across  our  path 
were  gullies  or  not,  and  we  did  not  wish  to  lose  our 
bearings.  We  unloaded  our  horse,  which  now  seemed 
so  precious  to  us,  tethered  him  near  by,  arranged  our 
food  in  little  packages  at  our  heads,  to  prevent  a  wild 
animal  snapping  at  us  without  warning,  and  lay  down 
exhausted  but  much  more  at  ease  in  our  minds  than 
had  we  remained  below  the  cliffs.  The  queen  of  the  night 
slowly  wended  her  way  across  the  star-dotted  heavens, 
diffusing  light  and  shadows  about  us  while  we  rested, 
but  slept  very  little.  Arising  at  dawn  we  found  every- 
thing that  had  been  exposed  to  the  atmosphere  stiff  and 
covered  with  thick  frost,  and  were  astonished  to  dis- 
cover ourselves  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  gully,  into  which 
we  would  have  fallen  had  we  made  a  few  more  steps 
the  previous  night.  We  had  no  idea  that  we  were  in 
the  vicinity  of  such  a  place,  much  less  so  near  it. 

The  next  difficulty  we  encountered  was  our  inabil- 
ity to  make  a  fire,  having  no  fuel  except  the  argols,  and 
not  being  proficient  in  the  use  of  the  Tibetan  bellows 
(a  goatskin  tied  at  one  end  to  a  round  iron  pipe  four- 
teen inches  long,  and  about  one  inch  in  diameter), 
which  are  manipulated  by  a  peculiar  motion  of  the 
hands.  Although  Mr.  Rijnhart  had  had  considerable 
practice  with  the  bellows  while  sitting  with  the  na- 


304  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

tives  around  a  well-blazing  fire,  he  found  it  quite  an- 
other matter  to  start  one  when  so  little  force  was  re- 
quired, so  that  at  first  he  succeeded  only  in  extinguish- 
ing the  blaze  instead  of  increasing  it.  It  took  our 
combined  ingenuity  and  efforts  to  finally  get  the  fire 
started  that  morning,  and  then  I  gathered  fuel  while 
he  plied  the  awkward  bellows.  During  the  tea  drinking 
we  discussed  our  plans,  and  knowing  the  over-weight 
of  our  loads,  both  that  of  the  horse  and  the  one  under 
which  my  husband  was  obliged  to  trudge  with  his  sore 
foot,  and  considering,  besides  this,  my  own  poor  health, 
we  felt  we  must  not  wander  aimlessly  around.  We 
plaimed  to  follow  the  river  down  for  two  days,  and 
then  if  we  failed  to  find  traces  of  the  lamasery  or 
tents,  branch  off  to  the  left,  to  again  strike  the  Caravan 
Road;  for,  according  to  our  compass  and  knowledge  of 
the  general  direction,  we  were  not  just  then  deviating 
very  much  from  the  latter.  Having  found  a  path  along 
the  little  stream  on  which  we  had  camped,  leading 
toward  the  Tsa  Chu,  we  followed  it  around  a  hill,  and 
soon  were  beside  the  obstructing  rocks  beyond  which 
our  boy  had  been  sitting  on  the  day  of  the  robbery,  and 
where  we  commanded  a  view  of  the  river  and  its  oppo- 
site bank  stretching  away  into  open  and  level  country. 
After  traveling  three  hours  along  steep  slopes,  we 
reached  an  overhanging  ledge  where  we  must  either 
ford  the  river  or  branch  in  over  the  hills.  Surveying 
the  latter,  we  saw  them  rise  one  tier  above  another 
endlessly,  and  felt  that  in  our  circumstances  neither 
we  nor  our  horse  were  able  to  undertake  any  more 
mountain  climbing.    Visually  measuring  the  width  of 


OUR  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHER  305 

the  river  with  its  volume  and  current,  we  shrank  from 
crossing,  but  Mr.  Rijnhart  said  he  was  able  to  swim  in 
any  current  and  did  not  fear  to  undertake  it.  After 
due  deliberation  we  decided  that  the  best  place  to  ford 
was  a  short  distance  above  the  junction  of  a  tributary 
from  the  other  side  and  opposite  a  sandbar  which  di- 
vided the  river.  Just  above  the  sandbar  the  waters 
swept  around  a  curve,  while  immediately  below  it  were 
rocks.  Mr.  Rijnhart,  donning  some  thin  garments, 
loaded  the  food,  pots  and  sundries  on  the  horse,  and 
started  off,  intending  to  make  a  return  trip  for  me  and 
the  bedding.  He  led  the  horse  across  the  first  part  of 
the  river,  which  was  about  two  feet  deep,  then  let  him 
go,  and  both  swam  over.  It  had  begun  to  rain,  and 
Mr.  Rijnhart  shivered  while  he  unloaded  the  animal's 
burden  on  the  other  side,  mounted  and  returned  for  me. 
His  teeth  chattered  as  he  tied  the  blankets  to  the  back 
of  the  saddle  and  I  mounted.  As  I  carried  considerable 
weight  in  my  gown,  about  ten  pounds  of  silver,  our  two 
revolvers,  the  telescope,  our  silver-lined  tsamha  basins 
and  dry  stockings  for  us  both,  Mr.  Rijnhart  cautioned 
me  not  to  fall  off,  for  with  such  impedimenta  about 
me  he  could  do  nothing  to  save  me.  Taking  the  long 
rope  in  his  hand  and  leading  the  horse  as  far  up  the 
sandbar  as  he  could  without  swimming,  he  then  let 
go  and  stood  to  watch  us.  The  current  caught  the  rope 
and  swept  it  down;  the  horse,  thinking  he  was  being 
led,  turned  his  head  and  began  to  swim  down  the 
stream.  My  husband  called  to  me  to  pull  the  right  rein, 
which  I  had  done  instinctively.  The  horse  turned 
suddenly,   the   rusliing  water   caught   underneath   the 


80b  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

bedding  and  swept  me,  saddle  and  all,  almost  into  the 
river.  Eealizing  my  peril  I  threw  myself  over  to  the 
opposite  side,  and  so  hanging  on  to  the  horse's  mane 
with  my  weight  in  the  right  stirrup,  by  sheer  force  I 
kept  the  whole  balanced  and  reached  the  bank  in  safety. 
The  old  horse,  tired  out,  sat  down  in  the  stream,  not 
being  able  to  step  up  on  the  bank;  so  I  dismounted  in 
the  water.  Almost  everything  was  saturated.  Mr. 
Kijnhart  plunged  again  into  the  current  and  crossed 
successfully,  though  chilled  through  from  the  icy 
water.  ISTow  that  all  our  garments  had  got  wet  we  were 
in  sore  straits.  Owing  to  the  rain  it  was  with  difficulty 
we  secured  sufficient  fuel  to  prepare  some  hot  soup, 
and  as  soon  as  the  shower  passed  off,  after  spreading  our 
blankets  out  to  dry,  we  roamed  some  distance  away  in 
search  of  larger  quantities  of  fuel.  Suddenly  we  dis- 
covered the  fresh  footprints  of  three  horses  and  a  dog. 
Were  they  traces  of  our  guides  and  Topsy?  On  what 
slender  threads  the  drooping  heart  is  prepared  to  hang 
out  a  new  hope !  Wet  and  cold  and  forsaken  as  we 
were,  a  tremor  of  joy  awoke  in  us  as  we  thought  of  the 
possibility  of  help  from  the  old  mamha  and  the  two 
boys  who  had  left  us  on  the  day  of  the  robbery.  Had 
we  misjudged  them,  and  were  they  still  faithful  to  us? 
We  tarried  the  night  and  divined  our  hope  was  a  vain 
one;  we  must  therefore  press  on. 

The  morning  of  the  following  day  we  almost 
immediately  had  to  cross  a  tributary  of  the  Tsa 
Chu,  not  a  large  stream,  but  the  bottom  was  cov- 
ered with  big  stones,  and  the  current  was  very 
strong.      N"ot   willing   to   have   any   more   delay   than 


OUR  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHER  307 

was  necessary,  we  managed  to  wade  across  hand  in 
hand,  but  had  great  difficulty  to  hold  ourselves  erect 
against  the  force  of  almost  three  feet  of  water  and  the 
tendency  to  slip  on  the  uneven  stones  in  the  bed.     The 
question  of  river  crossing  had  become  harder  than  ever 
to  solve,  with  only  one  horse  and  not  a  single  native 
with  us,  and  we  tried  to  think  that  perhaps  we  would 
not  be  compelled  to  cross  any  more.    In  a  pretty  ravine 
we  found  a  deserted  camp,  in  one  corner  of  which  we 
saw  three  stones  that  had  just  recently  served  as  a  fire- 
place, and  a  small  bit  of  paper  and  string  that  we 
judged  had  held  some  medicine  used  by  the  mamha  for 
the  wounded  boy's  arm.   This  was  the  last  trace  of  our 
guides  that  we  saw.    After  threading  our  way  through 
dales  and  over  hillocks  we  reached  a  level  place  on 
the  river's  edge,  where  were  remains  of  several  mud 
and  stone  ranges,  indicating  a  tenting  ground;  and  as 
there  was  good  grass  and  abundance  of  fuel,  we  rested 
for  lunch.     Looking  about  carefully  we  saw  what  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  cattle,  and  upon  taking  the 
telescope  discovered  immense  flocks  and  herds  and  tents 
away  down  the  river,  but  on  the  opposite  side !     Some 
rocks  obstructed  our  way  along  the  river's  edge,  neces- 
sitating   probably    a    long    detour    over    the    hills    in 
order  to  progress  in  the  direction  of  those  tents,  but 
how  welcome  the  sight  and  what  rejoicing  it  brought 
to  us !    It  seemed  as  if  our  difficulties  were  all  ended, 
and  feeling  no  fear  to  remain  alone,  but  knowing  the 
horse's  inability  to  successfully  ford  the  river  again, 
I  would  liave  Mr.  Rijnhart  cross  then  and  there  and  go 
to  the  tents  for  aid,  leaving  me  to  await  his  return. 


308  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

He  looked  at  me  a  moment,  then  said :  "  No,  I  could 
not  leave  you  here  alone — travelers  may  come  along  and 
find  you,  and  you  are  a  woman.  We  must  stay  together 
as  long  as  we  can,  and  when  we  have  reached  a  place 
opposite  the  tents  I  can  watch  you  while  I  am  gone." 
To  that  end  we  left  the  river  and  went  at  right 
angles  to  it  over  steep  hills,  one  rising  above  another, 
but  each  one  hidden  from  view  until  we  had  gained 
the  crown  of  the  first,  and  passing  some  magnificent 
rocks  we  reached  the  basin  of  a  limpid  mountain  stream 
which  we  followed.  Numerous  traces  of  tents  were 
found  in  this  spot  hidden  among  the  hills,  an  admir- 
able place  for  robber  bands  to  escape  detection  and  yet 
be  near  the  highway.  Large  flakes  of  snow  announced 
an  approaching  storm,  and  in  order  that  we  might 
appease  our  hunger  before  night  came  on,  we  gathered 
fuel  in  the  skirts  of  our  gowns  as  we  walked  along, 
a  practice  we  had  learned  from  the  natives.  At  dusk 
we  were  not  yet  out  of  the  ravine,  but  were  almost  at 
the  summit  from  which  the  rivulet  sprang,  and  there  we 
camped.  Was  it  the  coming  disaster  that  weighed  us 
down  and  crushed  our  bright  spirits,  or  was  it  that  we 
were  in  a  glen  where  crime  had  left  its  stain?  An 
indescribable  feeling  of  uncanniness  seemed  to  seize 
us  both,  so  that  we  scarcely  spoke  above  a  whisper, 
while  we  selected  a  spot  near  an  old  fireplace.  With 
our  one  staff,  some  pieces  of  string  and  two  pegs,  we 
put  our  rubber  sheeting  up  for  shelter,  and  crept  be- 
neath it.  Eight  inches  of  snow  fell  during  the  night, 
making  us  as  warm  as  when  in  well-heated  apartments ; 
but  in  the  morning  it  was  almost  an  impossibility  to 


OUK  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHER  309 

creep  out  from  beneath  the  weight,  even  after  we  had 
summoned  courage  to  decide  that  we  wanted  to.  The 
weather  looked  threatening  and  the  bulk  of  snow  would 
tend  to  make  the  walking  hard,  besides  wetting  our 
Tibetan  boots  and  consequently  our  feet.  The  only 
dark  object  we  saw  far  or  near  was  a  large  brown  bear 
with  a  white  ring  around  his  neck,  prowling  and 
shuffling  about  just  a  few  yards  from  us.  Our  pony 
was  the  first  to  stir.  He  had  already  brushed  the  snow 
away  with  his  lips  in  order  to  reach  the  luscious  grass, 
and  at  last  we,  too,  with  a  desperate  effort  threw  off 
our  lethargy  and  with  it  our  blankets,  and  crawled  out 
to  breakfast  on  tsamba  and  snow.  With  fingers  biting 
and  aching  from  the  cold,  we  fastened  on  the  horse's 
load,  Mr.  Rijnhart  shouldered  his,  and  off  we  started 
again,  bruin  watching  us  with  perhaps  more  than 
friendly  interest.  My  husband  left  me  with  the  horse 
while  he  went  to  reconnoiter  a  little,  so  that  we  might 
not  unnecessarily  climb  hills,  and  hence  get  too  far 
away  from  the  river  bank.  He  found  that  we  had 
passed  the  rocks,  so  we  walked  around  the  steep  slopes 
of  the  hills  until  we  were  overlooking  the  river  again; 
but  the  walking  was  inconceivably  bad,  and  in  turns 
we  fell  on  the  slippery  snow  and  grass.  The  horse 
would  slip  and  struggle,  the  load  would  fall  off,  and 
then  with  cold  fingers  and  endless  trouble  the  saddle 
and  all  would  have  to  be  readjusted  and  the  whole 
start  be  made  again.  Finally,  when  high  up  among 
brushwood  on  the  side  of  a  very  steep  hill  above  the 
river,  the  horse  slipped  and  rolled  over  and  over  down 
the  hillside,  until  we  feared  he  might  only  be  stayed 


310  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

on  his  headlong  course  when  he  reached  the  water. 
When  he  did  come  to  a  stop  we  felt,  even  though  we 
were  not  much  nearer  the  tents  on  the  opposite  bank 
than  we  had  been  the  morning  previous,  we  could  not 
possibly  manage  to  proceed  another  step;  so,  scraping 
the  snow  away  from  a  little  piece  of  ground  more  level 
than  the  remaining  part,  we  sat  down  and  made  a 
fire  with  some  of  the  brushwood  growing  in  the  lo- 
cality. 

Some  men  from  the  tents  were  within  hailing  dis- 
tance. We  shouted ;  they  answered,  but  would  not  come 
near  enough  to  hold  any  conversation  with  us,  and  ran 
about  very  much  excited  on  the  hills.  A  Chinaman's 
curiosity  would  have  induced  him  to  come  near  enough 
to  find  out  at  least  who  we  were,  but  a  Tibetan's  is  not 
so  great. 

The  sun  shone  brightly,  and  the  snow  melted  quickly, 
while  we  felt  that  it  was  too  late  in  the  afternoon  for 
Mr.  Eijnhart  to  attempt  to  go  on  foot  to  the  tents, 
as  at  nightfall  he  would  not  have  had  time  to  return; 
so  he  tried  to  ford  the  river  on  our  horse,  but  it  was 
impossible.  Having  talked  of,  thought  about,  and 
prayed  for  guidance  in  the  matter  of  reaching  the  tents, 
we  concluded  that  it  would  be  best  to  spend  the  night 
where  we  were,  and  that  in  the  morning  Mr.  Eijnhart 
would  swim  over,  hire  animals,  and  at  the  same  time 
find  out  our  whereabouts  in  reference  to  the  lamasery. 
How  sore  our  faces  were  that  night  from  the  sun  and 
snow,  and  how  severely  our  eyes  smarted !  Neither  of 
us  having  any  thought  of  the  impending  calamity,  we 
rose  on  the  morning  of  September  26,  had  breakfast. 


OUR  LAST  DAYS  TOGETHER  311 

and  my  husband  prepared  for  departure.  Cutting  our 
rubber  sheeting  in  two,  he  used  part  of  it  to  wrap 
about  his  dry  underwear,  jacket,  trousers,  a  piece  of 
silver,  five  ounces  in  weight,  some  hhatas,  and  my  light 
revolver.  Binding  the  whole  tightly,  he  strapped  it  on 
his  back  and,  taking  the  staff  in  his  hand  to  deal  with  the 
dogs  when  he  reached  the  tents,  started  away  cheer- 
fully, telling  me  not  to  be  afraid,  but  to  use  his  big 
revolver,  which  he  had  given  me  in  place  of  my  small 
one,  if  any  one  went  to  harm  me.  He  said  he  would 
return  before  dark,  if  possible;  but  if  not,  he  would 
call  out  when  near  me,  so  that  I  would  not  be  fright- 
ened. When  a  few  steps  away  he  turned  to  wave  his 
hand  and  said  "ta-ta."  Reaching  the  river's  edge  he 
threw  off  on  the  bank  his  heavy  wadded  Chinese  jacket 
of  dark  blue  cloth,  and  entered  the  river.  Wading  half 
across,  he  put  out  his  arms  to  make  the  first  stroke,  but 
suddenly  turned  around  and  walked  back  again  to  the 
bank  where  he  had  first  entered  the  water.  Shouting 
something  up  to  me  which  I  did  not  hear  on  account  of 
the  rushing  river,  he  walked  up-stream  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  the  tents  he  had  set  out  for.  Then  he  fol- 
lowed a  little  path  around  the  rocks  that  had  obstructed 
our  way  the  day  before,  until  out  of  sight,  and  I  never 
saw  him  again. 


CHAPTEK   XXI 

LOST   AND   ALONE 

Waiting  and  Watching — Conviction  of  Mr.  Rijnhart's 
Fate — Refuge  Among  Strange  Tibetans — Their 
Cruel  Treatment — The  Start  for  Jyekundo  for  OfiB- 
cial  Aid. 

To  swim  across  a  river  along  both  banks  of  which 
are  numerous  overhanging  cliffs,  and  which  pursues  a 
serpentine  course,  is  by  no  means  easy,  for  the  current 
carries  a  swimmer  down  sometimes  to  a  place  where  he 
cannot  land.  When  Mr.  Rijnhart  turned  and  waded 
back  to  the  place  at  which  he  had  entered,  I  hastily 
concluded  that  he  intended  to  make  another  trial  higher 
up,  where  the  landing  was  level  and  good;  for  opposite 
us  there  were  rocks  that  were  in  places  almost  a  com- 
plete barrier  to  his  getting  a  footing  on  shore.  I 
watched  for  him  to  enter  the  water  again  beyond  the 
large  rock  behind  which  he  had  disappeared;  but  not 
seeing  him  at  once  I  took  the  telescope  and  walked  a 
distance  down  the  hill,  so  that  my  range  of  vision 
should  command  the  bank.  To  my  great  surprise  I 
saw  flocks  of  sheep  and  numbers  of  cattle  just  be- 
yond the  rocks,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river  that  I  was 
on,  and  only  a  short  distance  away,  almost  near  enough 

312 


LOST  AND  ALONE  313 

for  me  to  have  thrown  a  stone  at  them.  I  knew  then 
that  Mr.  Eijnhart,  when  he  turned  about  in  the  water 
so  suddenly,  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  these  tents  in 
our  vicinity,  and  had  hailed  the  sight  with  gladness, 
feeling  that  going  to  them  he  would  need  to  be  away 
from  me  only  a  short  time,  in  comparison  with  that 
which  he  would  necessarily  occupy  in  crossing  the 
river,  and  making  his  way  down  to  the  tents  he  had 
first  proposed  to  visit.  I  also  was  much  pleased  at 
our  discovery,  for  I  expected  him  back  perhaps  in  an 
hour  or  so  with  some  of  the  natives,  and  at  least  felt 
sure  that  he  would  not  be  away  until  dark.  Varied 
were  the  thoughts  that  passed  through  my  mind,  for  in 
my  imagination  I  saw  him  in  his  clothing  wet  from 
wading  in  the  water,  as  he  had  not  waited  a  moment 
to  divest  himself  of  the  wet  garments,  nor  to  pick  up 
and  throw  about  him  his  warm  jacket  which  he  had 
left  on  the  bank;  but  accompanying  that  came  a  scene 
beside  the  fires  of  the  tent  where  he  was  probably  drink- 
ing steaming  tea,  while  he  explained  his  mission  to 
the  owners  of  those  sheep  and  cattle,  and  bargained 
with  them  for  animals.  A  thought  of  his  meeting 
with  trouble  did  not  enter  my  mind  until  the  hours 
sped  on  and  he  came  not;  but  even  then  I  did  not  fear, 
for  we  had  always  been  treated  with  the  greatest  kind- 
ness and  hospitality  whenever  we  had  met  the  people 
at  their  homes,  although  it  is  understood  by  all  that  the 
natives  are  robbers  when  away  from  home.  He  himself 
had  not  thought  of  difficulty,  for  he  did  not  wait  to 
remove  from  his  bundle  the  revolver  that  might  have 
had  a  moral  effect  over  the  tent  people ;  but  went  around 


314  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  rock  buoyantly  and  sure  that  I  would  no  longer 
have  to  walk,  and  that  his  heavy  burden  would  be  car- 
ried by  strong  yak,  and  doubtless  entertaining  the  hope 
of  being  able  to  get  aid  from  the  abbot  of  Tashi  Gomba 
in  tracing  our  lost  horses,  resulting  perhaps  in  their 
recovery. 

Soon  the  sun  went  dovm.  over  the  top  of  the 
hill  on  which  I  sat,  and  the  shadows  grew  longer  and 
longer.  Four  bears  gamboled  about  on  the  hillside 
until  the  shade  fell  on  them  and  they  shuffled  away.  I 
prayed  for  strength  to  be  quiet,  for  God  to  give  me 
freedom  from  anxiety  as  the  time  passed  on  and  there 
was  no  appearance  of  him  for  whom  I  had  watched 
all  day.  The  cattle  and  the  sheep  across  the  river 
were  rounded  up  and  driven  home  to  be  tethered  near 
the  tents,  but,  besides  the  bears  and  my  horse,  there 
was  not  a  sign  of  any  living  creature  on  the  same  bank 
where  I  was,  for  the  flocks  and  herds  towards  which 
my  husband  had  gone  had  long  since  disappeared. 

Knowing  that  the  Tibetans  are  sometimes  dilatory 
and  hard  to  manage,  I  tried  to  think  that  the  tents 
were  some  distance  away,  that  the  natives  refused  to 
help  us  unless  my  husband  would  remain  until  morn- 
ing, and  so  I  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that 
daylight  would  bring  him  to  me.  Keason  told  me  he 
had  fallen  prey  to  wicked  men,  but  I  would  not,  be- 
cause I  had  no  desire  to,  listen  to  it,  and  my  heart 
hoped  against  hope.  Dusk  settled  into  darkness,  and 
a  desolate  solitude  reigned  over  hill  and  valley,  almost 
chilling  me  to  the  heart  as  I  sat  alone  in  the  stillness 
of  that  oriental  night,  broken  by  no  sound  of  human 


LOST  AND  ALONE  315 

voice,  with  no  sympathy  of  friends  to  fall  back  upon, 
not  even  the  companionship  of  the  faithful  Topsy.  I 
thought  of  the  possible  strain  both  physical  and  mental 
of  him  who  had  gone  so  cheerfully  around  the  rock  that 
day.  What  he  must  have  suffered  did  he  have  time  to 
think  of  his  wife  alone  and  in  danger !  I  knew  that, 
unless  he  had  hopes  of  helping  me  himself,  every 
thought  was  a  prayer  that  his  loving  Father  would 
tenderly  care  for  the  one  alone  on  the  hillside.  I 
tied  my  horse  among  the  bushes  and  lay  down,  more  for 
protection  from  the  cold  than  from  any  desire  to  sleep, 
and  spent  a  quiet,  peaceful,  though  slumberless  night, 
in  a  mood  not  to  be  surprised  if  the  sound  of  that 
precious  voice  rang  out  my  name  through  the  deathly 
stillness,  remembering  what  he  had  said  about  calling 
to  me  if  he  should  return  after  dark — but  in  vain. 
Morning  came,  and  with  it  I  rose  to  use  the  telescope 
once  more,  and  wait  for  the  hoped  and  longed  for  re- 
turn of  my  husband.  The  cattle  and  sheep  spread  out 
over  the  hills  across  the  river,  and  all  nature  basked  in 
the  sunshine,  but  as  the  hours  of  the  second  day  sped 
on  and  no  trace  of  him  was  seen,  my  heart  almost  ceased 
beating.  Well  it  was  that  we  had  learned  to  trust  God 
in  hard  and  difficult  places.  What  else  supported  me 
through  the  leaden  hours  of  that  day  but  the  thought 
that  I  was  in  God's  hands? 

"  Nothing  before,  nothing  behind, 
The  steps  of  faith 
Fall  on  the  seeming  void,  and   find 
The  rock  beneath." 

But  I  must  admit  it  was  a  faith  amidst  a  darkness 


316  WITH  THE  TIBETAN'S 

60  thick  and  black  that  I  could  not  enjoy  the  sun- 
shine. Evening  found  me  still  alone  with  God,  just 
as  I  had  been  the  night  before.  My  undefined  fear 
had  shaped  itself  into  almost  a  certainty,  leaving  me 
with  scarcely  any  hope  of  ever  seeing  my  husband 
again,  and  with  just  as  little,  probably,  of  my  getting 
away  from  the  same  people  who  had  seemingly  mur- 
dered him,  and  indeed,  I  must  confess  I  had  no  desire  to 
leave  that  hill.  The  conviction  that  the  tents  beyond 
those  rocks  belonged  to  the  robbers  who  had  stolen  our 
horses  was  forced  upon  me,  and  I  concluded  also  that 
when  Mr.  Kijnhart  suddenly  came  into  their  presence 
they  thought  he  had  come  for  his  horses,  and  would 
accuse  them  to  their  chief,  thus  causing  the  loss  of 
the  goods  they  had;  and  so,  to  avoid  trouble,  they  had 
shot  him  and  thrown  his  body  into  the  river.  Some 
days'  journey  from  there  the  celebrated  traveler 
Dutreuil  de  Ehins  had  been  killed  in  1894  and  the 
Tibetans  had  thrown  his  body  into  the  river,  but  were 
compelled  to  pay  dearly  for  it  in  silver,  and  a  lama 
had  been  beheaded  for  the  crime.  This  was  all  well 
known  to  the  men  near  us,  and  if  I  am  correct  in  my 
surmise  that  these  were  the  robbers,  my  brave  and  fear- 
less husband  had  fallen  a  prey  to  their  distrust  and 
fear.  M.  Grenard,  who  was  Dutreuil's  compagnon-de- 
voyage  on  the  expedition  on  which  the  former  was 
killed,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  Mr.  Rijnhart's  disappear- 
ance, wrote  that  the  tribes  in  the  locality  where  we  had 
met  our  trouble  were  the  most  hostile  they  had  seen, 
refusing  to  sell  them  anything  even  for  large  sums  of 
money — and  Miss   Annie   Taylor   just   avoided  being 


LOST  AND  ALONE  317 

stoned  as  a  witch  by  the  people  of  Tashi  Gomba.  These 
circumstances  add  weight  to  what  I  myself  had  thought 
at  the  time. 

The  second  night  I  lay  awake  watching  the  stars 
that  twinkled  joyously,  meditating  and  praying  for 
some  light  as  to  my  future,  and  asking  God  not 
to  permit  me  to  be  rash  and  make  mistakes.  Oh!  if  I 
could  only  have  helped  Mr.  Rijnhart !  Morning  came, 
and  with  it  no  solution  of  the  impenetrable  difficulty, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  must  stay  on  and  wait  in- 
definitely for  some  one  to  come.  About  ten  o'clock  I 
stood  scanning  the  landscape  with  the  telescope,  when 
suddenly  I  heard  a  shout  from  behind  me  on  the  hill. 
My  heart  bounded  with  delight  under  the  impulse  of 
the  moment,  for  I  concluded  it  was  the  voice  I  so 
longed  to  hear,  and  that  the  yak  I  saw  were  some  he 
had  hired  to  help  us.  Therefore  I  was  only  the  more 
disappointed  to  see  that  they  belonged  to  two  lamas  and 
several  armed  Tibetans  coming  from  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. I  shouted  to  them,  and  as  the  lamas  came  down 
the  hill  I  went  up  towards  them,  and  we  sat  down  to 
converse  while  their  comrades  went  on  with  their  yak. 
After  the  usual  civilities  had  been  exchanged  they 
asked  me  where  my  husband  was,  and  I  replied  that 
he  had  gone  to  some  tents  and  had  as  yet  not  returned. 
They  inquired  if  I  were  not  afraid  to  stay  alone;  and 
for  answer  I  showed  them  my  revolver,  explaining  that 
I  could  easily  fire  six  shots  from  it  before  a  native 
could  fire  one  from  his  gun,  and  that  each  bullet  could 
go  through  three  men;  whereupon  they  remarked  to 
each  other  that  no  one  had  better  try  to  harm  me,  as  I 


318  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

could  wound  eighteen  men  before  I  could  be  touched. 
They  were  traveling,  they  said,  to  a  place  three  days' 
journey  away,  and  as  they  were  apparently  friendly,  I 
at  first  thought  of  journeying  with  them  in  the  hope 
of  enlisting  their  help,  but  gave  that  up  as  impossible. 
Then  I  asked  them  to  take  me  across  the  river  on 
their  yak,  and  in  answer  they  inquired  if  I  had  money. 
I  said  yes,  I  would  pay  them  well  for  it.  They  jumped 
up,  and,  saying  they  would  go  for  the  yak,  ran  up  the 
hill  and  out  of  sight  in  the  direction  of  the  tents  to 
which  my  husband  had  gone. 

I  waited  in  the  same  place  all  that  day,  but 
there  was  no  sign  of  Mr.  Kijnhart,  nor  did  the 
men  return  when  the  sun  had  gone  down.  I  felt 
that  my  life  would  not  be  worth  anything  if  I  re- 
mained there  all  night,  and  that  I  must  get  away 
from  that  place;  but  whither  I  was  to  go  I  did  not 
know.  I  tried  to  cross  the  river  on  my  horse,  but  he 
would  not  venture  into  the  water.  Then  I  dragged 
him  up  the  hill,  sat  down  once  more  and  reviewed  the 
situation,  when  the  thought  came :  "  Why !  I  can 
never  get  away  from  here  safely  anyway.  I  will  never 
be  able  to  get  out  of  the  country,  I  am  so  far  from  the 
border;  I  may  as  well  be  killed  first  as  last,  and  so 
I  will  go  where  my  precious  husband  has  gone."  And 
once  more  I  pulled  my  horse  down  the  hill  intending 
to  go  around  the  rock.  But  I  was  not  to  go.  The  im- 
pression grew  upon  me  that  it  was  rash  to  rush  into 
almost  certain  death,  and  thus  neither  be  any  help  to 
my  husband,  nor  leave  any  trace  of  the  three  of  us  who 
had  left  Tankar  in  such  good  spirits,  thereby  bringing 


LOST  AND  ALONE  319 

untold  sorrow  and  suspense  to  our  home  friends.  Then 
there  was  the  thought  of  future  work.  Had  we  not  both 
consecrated  ourselves  to  the  evangelization  of  Tibet, 
and  now  that  my  dear  husband  had  fallen,  was  the 
work  and  its  responsibility  any  the  less  mine  ?  Eventu- 
ally I  walked  along  the  river  down  stream  toward  the 
tents  Mr.  Eijnhart  had  first  in  view,  with  a  strong 
desire  to  get  help  to  take  me  to  the  lamasery  or  to  the 
chief  of  the  tribe,  but  with  a  vague  feeling  of  unrest 
and  of  doubt  as  to  what  would  happen.  On  reaching 
the  river's  edge  opposite  those  tents  I  called  so  loudly 
to  the  people  that  a  man  and  a  boy  came  to  the  nearest 
place  to  me,  so  I  asked  them  to  come  over  the  river 
with  two  yak,  holding  up  a  hliata;  but  that  was  not 
enough  to  tempt  them,  so  I  showed  a  piece  of  silver 
which  I  would  give  them  for  taking  me  across  the 
river,  and  they  ran  away  to  return  with  two  yak  upon 
one  of  which  there  was  a  pack  saddle.  I  was  amazed 
to  see  them  drive  the  fierce  looking  brutes  into  the 
water  with  stones  and  shouts.  I  saw  that  they  expected 
me  to  catch  them,  put  my  bedding  on  one,  saddle  and 
mount  the  other,  a  task  that  was  utterly  impossible, 
for  I  had  no  experience  with  these  strange  wild  burden- 
bearers — all  my  life,  in  fact,  I  had  been  possessed  of 
an  inordinate  fear  even  of  domestic  cattle.  I  shouted 
over  that  if  a  man  did  not  come  with  the  yak  they 
need  not  send  them,  as  I  could  not  manage  them;  then 
they  stopped  throwing  stones  and  the  two  unwieldly 
creatures  returned  to  their  homes,  while  the  man  said 
I  could  stay  where  I  was.  I  made  ready  to  spend  the 
night  there,  directly  across  from  those  tents,  feeling 


320  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

a  little  more  secure  when  I  was  so  near  people  whom 
I  did  not  know  were  treacherous,  so  I  partook  of  some 
tsamba  and  cold  water,  tied  my  horse  where  he  could 
easily  be  watched,  and  lay  down  on  the  snow.  It 
snowed  nearly  all  night,  and  it  was  difficult  to  be  peace- 
ful. How  would  it  all  end?  Would  the  people  help 
me  in  the  morning?  These  were  only  a  few  of  the 
many  disquieting  thoughts  that  swayed  through  my 
mind,  while  deep  down  in  my  heart  a  voice  whispered, 
"Be  still,  sad  heart,  and  lean  upon  thy  God,  who 
knoweth  the  end  from  the  beginning." 

When  morning  dawned  I  called  again,  and  was  glad  to 
see  several  women  and  children  come  to  the  water's  edge, 
for  I  thought  I  could  manage  them  better  than  I  could 
the  men.  I  soon  saw  that  they  would  do  nothing  for  me 
until  I  had  proved  that  my  horse  would  not  take  me 
across,  so  I  put  my  bedding  on  him  and  mounted. 
The  women  shouted,  threw  stones,  and  waved  their 
hands,  while  I  did  my  best  to  persuade  him  to  cross, 
but  he  knew  his  weakness  better  than  we  did  and  not 
one  step  would  he  take,  so  Achi  called  out  for  me  to 
dismount,  which  I  did.  I  then  asked  what  they  would 
do  for  me.  Finally  a  lama  said  if  I  would  wait  a 
while  he  would  go  to  some  tents  near  by  and  bring  a 
horse  over,  and  I  could  then  cross  in  safety.  About 
ten  o'clock  a  man  and  six  yak  came  over  for  me.  The 
Tibetan  was  submitted  to  a  careful  scrutiny,  for  on  him 
so  much  depended,  and  I  saw  a  man  with  a  dirty  face, 
ragged  hair  and  clothing,  but  there  was  an  expression 
in  his  eyes  that  made  me  trust  him.  He  tied  my  horse 
to  one  of  the  yak,  put  my  things  on  another  and  my 


LOST  AND  ALONE  321 

saddle  on  a  third.  He  then  gave  me  his  own  and  my 
riding  animals  to  hold  by  the  rope  through  their  noses, 
while  he  drove  the  other  four  into  the  water,  amid 
the  clamor  of  a  large  party  of  onlookers  on  the  bank 
opposite.  My  horse  at  first  refused  to  go,  but  at  last 
launched  forth  and  dragged  the  yak  to  which  he  was 
tied  down  the  river  so  far  that  all  feared  they  would 
both  be  lost,  though  they  did  succeed  in  landing  far 
down  the  stream.  I  felt  anything  but  comfortable  in 
this,  my  first,  attempt  at  riding  the  yak,  especially  to 
cross  such  a  large  river,  but  there  was  nothing  else  to 
do;  so  while  my  rough-looking  guide  held  the  huge 
black  ox  by  the  horns  I  mounted,  and  then  my  com- 
panion mounted  his.  Having  no  bridle,  I  had  expected 
my  guide  to  lead  mine  by  the  rope,  but  the  two  black, 
bulky  animals  plunged  awkwardly  into  the  water,  and 
I  clung  convulsively  to  the  saddle,  with  difficulty  keep- 
ing my  balance,  while  we  swayed  with  the  motion  of  the 
animal  swimming,  and  the  current  which  was  very 
strong.  When  we  arrived  on  the  other  side,  all  wet, 
for  oxen  swim  lower  in  the  water  than  horses,  I  ex- 
pected to  go  into  the  tent,  change  my  wet  garments, 
and  warm  myself  before  a  genial  fire ;  but  no,  the  Tibe- 
tans had  other  plans,  and  I  felt  it  should  be  my  first 
aim  to  make  an  agreeable  impression  on  these  people. 
Amidst  such  remarks  as,  "  She  is  not  Chinese,  she  is 
a  foreigner,"  they  opened  up  every  thing  I  had  with 
me,  and  thankful  I  was  that  there  was  nothing  among 
the  things  that  could  arouse  their  suspicion  except  the 
revolver,  of  which  they  had  an  intense  fear.  One  man 
plunged  his  dirty  hand  into  the  bottom  of  my  tsamba 


822  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

bag  to  see  if  there  were  anything  secreted  there,  and 
found  a  dessert  spoon  which  I  gave  the  one  who  had 
brought  me  over  the  river,  the  silver  and  khata  having 
been  taken  possession  of  by  a  man,  whom  I  afterwards 
learned  was  a  doctor.  When  the  inspection  was  con- 
cluded I  then  took  one  of  the  women  by  the  hand  and 
asked  her  to  come  into  the  tent  with  me,  as  I  was  shiv- 
ering with  the  cold,  for  I  had  on  my  wet  garments,  and 
the  ground  was  covered  with  snow.  One  of  the  men 
pointed  to  a  spot  in  the  open  a  little  distance  from  the 
tents,  and  said  I  could  put  my  things  there  and  sleep. 
I  firmly  held  to  my  purpose  of  not  sleeping  out-of- 
doors  if  I  could  in  any  way  help  it,  and  besought  them 
to  let  me  have  a  common  tent,  or  put  up  a  little  shelter 
for  me,  and  finally  they  led  me  to  the  entrance  of  a 
narrow  cave  where  a  sick  cow  was  lying,  and,  driving 
the  cow  out,  they  allowed  me  to  put  my  things  there 
and  stay.  I  quickly  availed  myself  of  the  shelter,  and 
was  soon  comfortable  in  dry  garments,  sipping  hot  tea, 
the  first  I  had  had  for  three  days.  I  thought  I  had 
never  tasted  anything  so  delicious  in  my  life  before  as 
that  Tibetan  tea,  for  hunger  and  cold  are  efficient  ap- 
petizers. My  efforts  to  conciliate  these  people  were 
eminently  successful,  and  we  were  soon  on  the  best  of 
terms,  chatting  freely,  but  deep  in  my  heart  lurked  the 
awful  fear  of  my  husband's  fate,  and  despair  of  getting 
aid.  They  told  me  that  the  lamasery  of  Tashi  Gomba 
was  two  days'  journey  away;  the  abbot  had  been  be- 
headed, and  all  the  people  were  fighting,  so  nothing 
would  induce  the  men  to  go  with  me  there,  and  the 
chief  of  the  tribe  was  three  days'  journey  distant,  so 


LOST  AND  ALONE  323 

that  I  could  not  find  my  way  to  him.  Though  I  did 
not  tell  them  what  I  thought  had  happened  to  my  hus- 
band, they  suspected  that  there  was  something  amiss, 
and  they  knew  I  had  been  robbed,  also  that  I  could  not 
have  come  there  alone;  so  they  would  not  aid  me  to 
reach  any  person  of  authority,  because  they  might  then 
be  interfering  in  their  neighbors'  escapades,  thereby 
making  of  their  nearest  tent-dwellers  lifelong  enemies. 
One  Tibetan  will  not  openly  betray  another,  but  some- 
times very  secretly  for  a  large  sum  of  money  he  will 
tell  the  owner  of  horses  that  have  been  stolen  at  whose 
tent  the  latter  may  be  found;  but  the  fact  that  the  in- 
formation has  been  given  him  by  another  is  never  to 
be  made  known,  not  even  to  the  chief.  This  was  the 
secret  of  the  Tibetans  in  that  locality  not  helping  me, 
for  if  they  had  it  would  have  spoiled  their  lives.  They 
told  me  that  Jyekundo,  a  good-sized  town,  could  be 
reached  in  ten  days  by  horseback  and  in  fifteen  by  yak. 
As  a  Chinese  official  is  stationed  at  Jyekundo  I  prepared 
to  go  there  to  meet  him.  I  knew  he  could  send  letters 
to  Ta-chien-lu  for  me,  and  could  also  send  soldiers  back 
with  me  to  find  out  what  had  happened  to  Mr.  Kijn- 
hart.  But  the  natives  refused  to  go  all  the  way,  and 
asked  so  much  money  to  go  five  days  with  me  that  we 
could  not  come  to  terms,  so  I  remained  four  days  in 
that  little  cave. 

At  night  the  sick  cow  lay  outside  and  ground 
her  teeth,  while  I  put  my  saddle  and  traps  in 
the  entrance  to  prevent  her  walking  in  upon  me.  The 
men  and  women  visited  me  freely,  bringing  me  butter 
and  meat  for  sale,  and  always  wanting  the  same  things 
in  exchange,  viz. :  the  green  stones  that  are  used  so 


Z2i  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

profusely  to  decorate  headdresses.  I  went  the  after- 
noon of  the  first  day  to  a  spot  on  the  river  across 
from  the  place  where  I  had  sat  those  days  waiting  and 
waiting.  How  sad  I  felt  when  I  saw  on  the  bank,  just 
where  he  had  left  it,  my  husband's  wadded  jacket. 
The  third  day  two  lamas  on  horseback,  and  I  on  a  yak, 
went  again,  the  former  going  across  the  river  to  get 
the  things  that  I  had  left  there,  because  I  was  not 
able  to  take  them  all  when  I  had  gone  towards  the 
tents.  I  watched  them  through  the  telescope,  and  my 
heart  sank  when  I  saw  all  the  things  in  the  same  con- 
dition in  which  I  had  left  them,  for  I  knew  no  one 
had  been  near  the  place,  and  my  last  atom  of  hope  for 
the  return  of  the  absent  one  was  gone.  With  a  weary 
heart  I  urged  the  men  to  start  on  the  five  days'  journey 
toward  Jyekundo,  but  they  were  slow  in  promising  to 
leave.  Finally,  from  some  superstition  or  fear,  they  did 
not  wish  to  have  me  near  their  tents  any  longer,  per- 
haps because  they  thought  I  might  bring  harm  to  them, 
so  we  soon  came  to  terms  and  started  away.  Almost 
everything  I  had,  they  managed  with  great  sleight-of- 
hand  to  steal  from  me,  and  it  was  only  upon  my  refusal 
to  go  without  my  own  bridle,  which  was  a  good  one,  that 
it  was  forthcoming.  I  also  demanded  a  wadded  gar- 
ment that  would  be  sadly  needed  in  the  cold.  A  man 
had  hidden  it  under  a  stone,  but  brought  it  out  when 
I  told  the  woman  I  must  have  it.  Leaving  the  place 
where  my  baby  was  buried,  and  setting  out  alone  with 
these  Tibetans  from  the  locality  where  I  had  lost  my 
husband,  stand  out  prominently  as  the  two  events  in 
my  life  that  have  called  forth  the  greatest  effort,  ac- 
companied by  sorrow  too  deep  for  expression. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

WICKED  TIBETAN   GUIDES 

The  Apa  and  the  Murder  of  Dutreuil  de  Ehins — Con- 
ference with  a  Chief — New  Guides,  Treacherous  and 
Corrupt — The  Night  Camp  in  the  Marsh — We  Are 
Taken  for  Robbers — A  Lamasery  Fair. 

The  district  along  that  portion  of  th6  Tsa  Chu  where 
Mr.  Rijnhart  disappeared  is  called  Ga-Je,  and  is  gov- 
erned by  native  chiefs  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Amban  at  Sining,  whose  nearest  representative  is  the 
Chinese  official  at  Jyekundo;  so  that  though  the  neces- 
sity of  traveling  towards  the  latter  was  painful,  my 
heart  was  full  of  hope  that  I  might  there  enlist  help, 
accuse  the  guilty,  and  perhaps  be  able  to  return  with 
soldiers.  The  three  men  whom  I  had  engaged  to  ac- 
company me  five  days'  journey  with  yak  were  to  receive 
ten  ounces  of  silver  besides  a  valuable  garment,  and 
they  were  to  arrange  with  other  men  to  take  me  an- 
other five  days'  journey  towards  my  goal.  The  oldest 
man  was  about  fifty,  had  almost  grey  hair,  was  very 
dirty,  but  his  manner  was  so  full  of  simple  dignity  and 
kindness  that  I  felt  attracted  to  him,  and  called  him 
apa,  a  title  which  pleased  him  very  much.  One  of  his 
companions  was  the  man  who  had  brought  me  across 

325 


326  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

the  river,  and  though  he  ate  raw  meat  with  such  keen 
enjoyment  as  to  remind  me  of  cannibalism,  and  killed 
a  small  animal  his  dog  had  driven  from  its  shelter,  by 
battering  its  head  against  a  stone,  I  did  not  fear  him. 
About  the  third  there  was  nothing  unusual  except  that 
it  was  he  who  always  held  communication  with  new- 
comers, and  bargained  when  such  was  necessary.  They 
each  had  a  sword  but  no  spear;  only  one  carried  a  gun, 
while  all  three  walked,  driving  along  three  yak,  one 
with  my  things,  one  for  me  to  ride,  and  the  other  to 
carry  their  food,  which  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
meat,  with  a  very  little  butter  and  tsamha.  My  horse 
was  led  by  one  of  the  guides,  and  must  have  rejoiced 
in  his  freedom  from  even  a  saddle,  after  his  journey 
of  so  many  months.  The  evening  before  we  started  on 
our  five  days'  journey  we  went  a  short  distance  through 
the  hills  to  some  tents  belonging  to  relatives  of  the 
guides.  The  three  men  slept  inside  the  tents,  while  I 
remained  out-of-doors  on  the  edge  of  a  hill,  where  they 
made  a  good  fire  for  me,  procuring  from  the  tents  fuel 
enough  to  burn  the  greater  part  of  the  night.  Not  once 
again  was  I  ever  allowed  to  enter  a  tent,  or  the  living 
room  after  I  had  reached  the  agricultural  districts, 
where  the  people  occupy  houses  made  of  stone;  for  the 
natives  have,  besides  their  superstition  and  prejudices 
against  all  foreigners,  a  peculiar  custom  which  does 
not  permit  women  other  than  those  of  the  family  to 
enter  the  home.  These  three  guides  in  their  own  way 
were  exceedingly  kind  to  me,  and  though  I  could  not 
trust  them  implicitly,  my  mind  was  comparatively  free 
from  fear. 


w 

O 

H 
W 
pq 


WICKED  TIBETAN"  GUIDES  327 

The  yak  I  first  rode  was  untrained  for  riding  pur- 
poses and,  though  led  by  one  of  the  men,  made  such 
sudden  lurches  down  the  hill  that  twice  the  saddle 
turned  and  I  was  violently  thrown  off,  fortunately,  to- 
wards the  ascent  and  not  downwards;  but,  after  the 
second  fall,  I  insisted  on  having  a  larger,  though  more 
quiet,  animal,  and  found  him  much  better.  My  guides 
succeeded  in  trading  my  jaded  horse  for  a  fresh  one, 
and  when  the  owTier  of  the  latter  came  to  complete  the 
deal  he  happened  to  spy  my  last  towel,  and  nothing 
would  do  but  I  must  give  him  that — not  that  he  would 
use  it  much,  but  he  coveted  it,  and  I  could  not  find  any 
substitute  acceptable  to  him;  so,  feeling  that  I  might 
not  have  any  other  opportunity  to  make  a  trade,  I  let 
him  have  what  I  had  hitherto  considered  a  neces- 
sity to  my  existence;  but  a  horse  that  could  carry 
me  over  the  road  was  of  infinitely  more  service  to  me 
than  even  a  towel. 

The  three  men  expressed  their  satisfaction  and  pleas- 
ure that  I  was  again  riding  a  horse,  for  they  seemed 
to  take  quite  an  interest  in  me;  but  no  offer  I  made 
would  induce  them  to  consent  to  go  any  further  with 
me  than  the  five  days'  journey,  so  much  afraid  of 
robbers  they  were  when  outside  their  own  district. 
The  apa  told  me  there  was  a  large  amount  of  brigand- 
age practised  in  the  locality  through  which  we  were 
then  traveling,  also  in  that  through  which  we  would 
have  to  pursue  the  journey  towards  Jyekundo;  and 
therein  lay  the  reason  why  they  had  come  unmounted 
and  unarmed,  for  anyone  meeting  them  would  at  once 
conclude  that  they  had  nothing  of  value,  looking  as 


328  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

they  did,  like  beggars.  While  we  were  camped  one 
night  in  a  barren  valley  on  the  caravan  road,  between 
Nagch'uk'a  and  Jyekundo,  on  the  bank  of  a  little 
mountain  stream,  near  which  the  horse  was  tethered 
with  a  long  rope  so  that  he  might  graze  the  while,  sud- 
denly one  of  the  men  told  us  to  be  still,  as  the  horse 
heard  something.  We  looked  and  noticed  that  his 
attitude  was  one  of  attention,  his  ears  strained  to 
locate  a  sound.  One  of  the  guides  immediately  untied 
him,  led  him  to  me,  and,  putting  the  rope  into  my  hand, 
told  me  not  to  allow  him  to  be  taken  away  on  any  pre- 
text whatever,  but,  if  necessary,  to  threaten  with  my 
revolver.  Soon  two  horsemen  quietly  approached,  and 
one  of  my  men  went  to  converse  with  them,  with  the 
result  that  one  of  the  two  went  on,  and  the  other 
stayed  during  the  night  with  us.  He  was  a  well-dressed 
lama,  and,  though  very  inquisitive,  was  quite  harmless; 
so,  after  a  little  anxiety  at  the  beginning,  I  did  not 
have  any  reason  to  object  to  his  presence. 

My  guides  had  no  small  difficulty  to  hire  other 
men  and  animals  to  journey  with  me  when  they 
would  leave,  but  I  was  so  anxious  not  to  be  com- 
pelled to  make  a  start  alone  again  that  I  offered 
them  five  extra  ounces  of  silver  of  they  succeed- 
ed. This  was  quite  an  inducement,  and,  on  the 
night  of  the  fifth  day,  I  had  six  men  with  nine 
yak  to  stay  beside  me  in  the  narrow  ravine,  but  I  did 
not  feel  so  comfortable  or  easy  in  mind  as  I  had  done 
when  alone  with  my  first  three  guides.  The  apa  and  I 
had  often  sat  by  the  fire  chatting  freely,  while  the 
others  gathered  fuel  and  carried  water,  and  I  felt  as 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  329 

if  I  "were  parting  with  a  friend.  He  told  me  about  the 
killing  of  the  Frenchman,  Dutreuil  de  Rhins;  said  that 
he  was  there  and  helped  do  the  firing.  I  do  not 
credit  that,  though  the  fact  that  he  so  nonchalantly 
gave  the  details,  upholding  the  conduct  of  those  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  murder  of  the  gallant  French 
explorer,  made  me  feel  anything  but  secure  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  think  so  lightly  of  killing  a  for- 
eigner. The  morning  came  for  parting  with  my  guides 
who  had  been,  on  the  whole,  so  kind  and  thoughtful, 
really  having  successfully  set  the  ball  rolling  for  me 
towards  Jyekundo.  Having  received  their  money,  they 
made  me  presents  of  some  food,  and  off  they  went.  We 
had  talked  freely  of  baby,  of  my  husband  and  of  the 
robbers,  and  as  they  had  shown  me  some  sympathy  I 
was  really  lonely  when  they  were  gone,  and  I  felt  their 
departure  the  more  keenly  bceause  they  were  returning 
towards  the  place  where  my  heart  had  been  so  strained, 
and  where  my  thoughts  were  yet  centered,  while  I  was 
going  always  further  away. 

Of  my  three  fresh  guides,  one  was  a  man  of 
about  forty,  whom  I  also  pleased  by  giving  the 
name  of  apa;  the  youngest  was  a  boy  of  about 
seventeen,  with  a  pleasant  face,  his  well-combed 
and  greased  hair  hanging  down  behind  with  an  evenly 
cut  fringe  in  front.  He  had  a  new  sheepskin  gown,  white 
and  clean  except  where  his  well-oiled  hair  had  soiled 
it  at  the  back.  The  third  was  sneaky  both  in  appear- 
ance and  action,  and  was  the  only  one  I  feared  or  mis- 
trusted. They  were  all  armed  with  gun  and  sword, 
and,  on  the  whole,  we  jogged  along  very  harmoniously 


330  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

together.  But,  strangely  enough,  they  studiously  avoided 
camping  near  the  people,  though  they  agreed  to  secure 
the  services  of  three  more  men  to  travel  the  remainder 
of  the  way  to  Jyekundo  with  me  when  they  themselves 
had  to  return.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day,  as 
we  were  following  the  road  high  up  on  a  slope,  we 
suddenly  saw  a  chief's  tent  in  the  valley  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill.  I  immediately  decided  to  repair  to  it, 
and  ask  for  an  escort  of  men  with  horses,  because  the 
yak  were  so  slow  and  the  men  were  making  as  little 
progress  as  they  possibly  could  each  day,  in  order  that 
they  should  get  only  a  short  distance  away  from  home. 
When  I  considered  the  rate  at  which  we  were  traveling 
I  felt  dubious  about  the  ultimate  success  of  my  efforts, 
for  my  money  would  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  neces- 
sary expense  for  transport  and  food;  but  when  I  made 
known  to  the  men  my  intention  they  firmly  objected, 
saying  they  were  afraid,  for  this  was  their  own  chief. 
I  took  the  initiative  and  dragged  my  horse  down, 
bidding  them  follow,  which  they  reluctantly  did.  Soon 
the  old  man  and  I  were  calling  to  the  servants  around 
the  tent. 

On  our  approach  the  chief's  steward  came  to 
converse  with  us,  so  I  gave  him  a  beautiful  Tchata  for 
the  ponho,  and  asked  for  an  interview.  He  returned 
the  Ichata  and  said  because  I  was  a  woman  I  could  not 
enter  into  the  august  presence  of  his  master,  but  that 
he  himself  would  act  as  middleman.  I  refused  to  accept 
the  khata,  and,  showing  him  our  Chinese  passports,  I 
informed  him  that  we  had  been  robbed  some  distance 
away,  that  this  was  the  first  chief  I  had  been  able  to 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  331 

find,  and  that  I  desired  an  escort  with  horses  to  take 
me  to  Jyekundo,  expressing  my  willingness  to  pay  for  it. 
He  withdrew  to  the  tent  to  make  known  my  wishes 
to  his  master,  and  returned  presently  to  say  there  was 
another  chief  near  by  who  would  give  me  what  I 
wanted,  but  that  he  himself  could  not.  I  replied  that 
my  present  guides  were  not  responsible  to  anyone  for 
my  safety,  and  that  I  would  not  leave  the  place  where 
I  now  was  without  an  escort,  and  that  I  would  stay 
indefinitely  depending  upon  him  for  my  food,  and  for 
the  safety  of  my  horse ;  if  I  died  the  government  would 
in  time  trace  me  to  that  spot,  and  the  ponho  would  get 
into  trouble.  This  was  sufficient  to  move  the  chief,  and 
we  very  soon  came  to  terms;  but  I  was  to  wait  until 
next  day  so  that  the  escort  might  make  preparations 
for  the  journey.  As  the  five  days  were  not  yet  up,  I 
retained  my  three  guides  until  the  following  morning 
when,  paying  them  their  full  amount  of  money,  I  per- 
mitted them  to  leave.  The  subordinates  of  the  chief 
came  about  freely,  trying  to  buy  my  revolver,  and  par- 
ticularly the  telescope.  The  ponbo  did  not  forget  his 
dignity  enough  to  speak  to  me,  but  he  sent  to  ask  the 
loan  of  my  telescope,  with  which  it  was  evident  he  was 
as  pleased  as  a  child,  for  he  was  anxious  to  buy  it ;  but, 
feeling  that  he  would  not  give  me  very  much  for  it, 
I  said  that  if  the  escort  he  provided  took  me  to 
Jyekundo  I  would  send  it  back  with  them  as  a  present 
for  him.  Several  times  he  sent  messengers  to  ascertain 
if  I  meant  what  I  said,  to  each  one  of  whom  I  gave  the 
answer  that  if  they  returned  without  it,  it  would  be 
because  they  had  not  fulfilled  the  agreement. 


332  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

In  the  evening  the  two  men  destined  as  guides  were 
introduced  to  me.  I  noticed  that  one  of  them  had  a  very 
wicked  face  and  a  shaven  head,  while  the  other  was 
just  an  ordinary  lay  Tibetan.  I  had  given  the  ponbo 
a  piece  of  silver  as  payment  for  the  escort,  and,  fearing 
it  was  not  good  all  the  way  through,  I  presume,  they 
asked  if  they  might  cut  it  in  two,  and  upon  permission 
they  did  so,  each  taking  a  half.  They  then  requested 
me  to  travel  at  night,  but  I  emphasized  the  fact  that  I 
never  traveled  after  dark,  and  that  settled  the  ques- 
tion. The  chief  had  already  sent  me  presents  of  but- 
ter and  cheese,  and  the  next  morning  we  set  off,  the 
two  men  carrying  my  things  on  their  saddles  so  that 
they  might  not  have  a  third  horse  to  delay  us  on  our 
way.  I  had  an  easy  heart,  thinking  that  the  chief's 
men  would  be  quite  an  improvement  over  the  ones  I 
had  hired  myself.  But  what  a  change!  Instead  of 
security  I  found  myself  in  imminent  danger,  for  two 
very  bad  men  had  been  given  me,  and  only  the  promise 
to  send  the  telescope  to  their  chief  secured  any  help 
from  them.  There  are  no  worse  men  in  the  peniten- 
tiaries to-day  than  were  those  men  with  whom  I  traveled 
for  some  time,  for  they  planned  to  kill,  to  rob  me,  and 
did  succeed  in  cheating  me.  ISTot  for  one  instant  did 
they  escape  my  surveillance  except  when  they  went  in- 
side a  tent,  and  even  then  I  watched  to  see  them  again  at 
once  when  they  emerged.  The  one  who  carried  my  food 
on  his  saddle  went  to  his  own  tent  for  the  necessaries 
for  the  journey,  and  when  gone  stole  half  my  little 
supply  of  tsamba  and  butter.  How  despicably  mean 
I  thought  he  was  to  take  from  me,  a  lone  woman,  my 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  333 

only  food,  when  I  was  in  a  hostile  country  among 
strangers ;  but  it  served  to  put  me  on  my  guard. 

The  first  night  we  spent  beside  the  other  man's  tent, 
and  my  soul  revolts  when  I  think  of  the  suggestions  he 
made  to  me,  and  yet  he  only  treated  me  as  if  I  were  a 
Tibetan  woman,  not  knowing  that  women  in  our  land 
are  in  a  widely  different  position  from  those  in 
Tibet.  When  that  man — the  very  thought  of  whom 
makes  me  shudder — was  leaving  to  go  to  sleep 
inside  the  tent,  I  reiterated  what  I  had  already  said, 
that  if  anything  approached  me  during  the  night,  I 
would  fire  my  revolver  at  whatever  it  was,  whereupon 
he  told  me  to  be  careful  not  to  kill  the  dog!  In  the 
morning  as  we  started  on  the  big  caravan  road  towards 
Jyekundo,  my  treacherous  guides  caused  me  to  feel  more 
uncomfortable  than  ever,  but  they  found  out  that  I  was 
to  be  treated  with  respect,  and  that  I  would  not  tolerate 
either  familiar  language  or  gesture,  being  ready  with 
my  revolver  to  resist  any  impudence.  Oh!  how  I 
thanked  my  husband  for  his  thoughtful  care  in  giving 
me  that  protective  revolver,  for  it  was  the  only  instru- 
ment to  keep  in  control  the  abusive  and  insulting  ten- 
dencies of  those  men.  I  have  never  seen  any  other 
Tibetans  or  Chinese  who  even  approached  them  in  wick- 
edness of  every  description,  and  sometimes  can  scarcely 
realize  that  I  spent  days  and  nights  alone  with  them. 

They  assured  me  that  women  were  so  low  and  de- 
graded that  they  were  ashamed  to  be  seen  traveling  with 
me,  and  when  we  were  near  people,  I  was  not  to  open 
my  lips  to  utter  a  word,  for  if  I  did  it  would  be  known 
I  was  not  one  of  the  nobler  sex  like  them  and  they 


334  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

would  not  go  another  step  with  me.  They  wished  to 
appear  very  kind  and  wanted  to  relieve  me  of  the  heavy 
telescope,  which  they  offered  to  carry,  but  I  preferred 
retaining  that  myself  in  the  blouse  of  my  gown.  As 
long  as  I  had  it,  they  were  to  a  certain  extent  in  my 
power,  for  it  would  almost  mean  the  loss  of  their  heads 
did  they  return  to  their  chief  without  it.  They  soon 
found  that  I  was  on  the  alert  against  being  cheated  in 
a  simple  manner,  so  they  planned  on  an  extensive  scale 
to  get  me  within  their  control,  but  I  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  great,  good  Father,  and  He  protected  me. 

About  noon  the  more  wicked  of  the  two  complained  of 
a  severe  pain  in  his  stomach,  which  grew  worse  until 
he  was  apparently  almost  unable  to  proceed.  They 
asked  me  if  I  had  any  medicines  that  would  relieve 
pain,  and  I  replied  in  the  affirmative,  for  I  had  my 
hypodermic  syringe  with  tablets  of  morphia  which  I 
knew  would  relieve  him,  if  he  were  really  suffering, 
something  I  very  much  doubted.  He  asked  me 
if  the  medicine  were  Chinese  or  English,  and  up- 
on my  replying  that  it  was  the  latter,  he  said  he 
dare  not  take  it,  for  though  English  medicine  might  be 
all  right  for  us  and  the  Chinese,  it  would  certainly 
kill  a  Tibetan.  Seeing  tents  in  the  distance  to  the  left 
of  the  road,  he  said  we  would  spend  the  night  beside 
them,  and  he  would  secure  the  services  of  a  lama  who 
could  give  him  medicine  and  say  prayers  for  his  re- 
covery, so  we  went  towards  them.  When  we  had  ar- 
rived at  a  place  near  the  last  ones,  we  sat  down;  they 
indulged  in  snuff  and  conferred  together,  while  I  sev- 
eral times  suggested  that  we  should  make  our  way  over 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  335 

towards  the  tent  and  settle  down  for  the  night,  for  we 
were  exhausted  and  needed  rest,  while  the  sick  man 
could  go  and  place  himself  in  the  care  of  the  mamha. 
But  soon  I  saw  that  they  were  making  other  plans,  for 
we  started  on  again  and  left  the  tents  behind  us,  be- 
cause, so  they  tried  to  make  me  believe,  the  inhabitants 
were  very  bad  robbers,  and  it  would  be  dangerous  for 
us  to  remain  near  them. 

I  dared  not  quarrel  with  them,  for  it  would  have 
ended  in  their  telling  the  people  I  was  wicked  and 
should  be  killed,  which  would  probably  result  in  my 
death,  so  I  felt  it  was  better  policy  for  me  to  be  on 
my  guard  and  yet  not  incense  my  guides.  We  passed 
old  sites  of  tents,  where  were  mounds  of  fuel  laid  up 
for  future  use,  and  reached  an  immense  marsh  through 
which  we  traveled  for  hours,  our  horses  having  diffi- 
culty to  pick  their  way,  and  where  human  beings  had 
in  all  likelihood  never  been  before.  Reaching  a  little 
stream  we  followed  it  until  we  found  a  place  where  our 
horses  could  jump;  here  we  crossed  and  then  followed 
it  back  into  a  right  angle,  where  they  dismounted  to 
camp.  We  had  the  black,  miry  stream  on  two  sides  of 
us,  and  were  hemmed  in  by  very  marshy  ground  that 
extended  miles  away  to  the  base  of  some  hills.  I  noticed 
that  the  men  carefully  concealed  the  fire  in  order  that 
the  flames  should  not  be  seen  in  the  distance,  and  as  it 
was  long  after  dark,  we  prepared  to  rest  as  soon  as  we 
had  our  evening  meal.  They  frequently  assured  me 
of  the  safety  of  our  camping  ground,  where  we  could 
all  sleep  soundly  without  any  danger  of  robbers,  for 
we  could  not  be  reached  without  the  plunging  in  the 


336  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

bog  betraying  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  They  lay 
down  with  their  guns  ready,  and  their  heads  beside  the 
smouldering  fire,  while  I  spread  my  rubber  sheeting 
in  the  driest  place  I  could  find  a  few  yards  from  them. 
With  my  revolver  in  my  hand  I  spent  the  night,  now 
looking  at  the  stars  to  glean  some  hope  from  their  bright 
twinkle,  now  at  the  horses — praying  for  strength  to 
keep  awake  that  I  might  watch  with  unerring  and  un- 
faltering eye  every  movement  of  the  two  bad  men  be- 
side me ;  for  though  they  had  told  me  so  kindly  to  sleep 
without  fear,  they  yet  called  me  very  softly  six  times 
during  the  night,  when  I  promptly  answered  so  that 
they  might  know  I  was  not  to  be  caught  napping.  What 
their  purpose  was  I  could  not  discern,  but  their  leading 
me  away  from  human  haunts  into  the  center  of  that 
extensive  marsh,  bidding  me  have  no  care  for  we  could 
all  safely  sleep,  and  then  calling  me  so  frequently,  made 
me  realize  that  their  actions  boded  no  good,  and  that  I 
might  have  found  a  last  resting-place  in  that  forsaken 
spot  without  a  trace  being  left.  Men  may  plan,  but  it 
was  not  to  be  as  they  wished.  When  the  morning  dawned 
the  man's  pain  had  vanished,  and  with  it  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  kindness;  probably  they  were  angry  that 
a  woman  was  so  unexpectedly  on  her  guard.  We  sad- 
dled our  horses — I  had  to  saddle  my  own — and  before 
the  sun  had  as  yet  risen  over  the  hills,  we  were  on  the 
way  back  to  the  main  road  which  we  had  quitted  the 
day  before,  trotting  along  quickly  until  we  reached  a 
place  where  there  were  two  roads. 

Here   the   guides   hesitated,    saying   they   were   not 
certain    which    of    the    roads    led    to    Jyekundo,  but 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  337 

eventually  they  took  the  smaller  one,  and  I  sug- 
gested our  doing  what  the  nomads  always  do,  ask 
at  some  adjacent  tents  for  directions  as  to  the 
proper  road;  so  while  I  stayed  as  I  had  usually 
done  at  one  side  on  account  of  the  dogs,  they  sought 
information  from  the  tent  dwellers.  Soon  they  came 
to  me,  asking  if  I  knew  what  smallpox  was,  and  saying 
that  there  was  an  epidemic  of  it  at  Jyekundo,  and  they 
would  not  go.  It  was  not  difficult  for  me  to  realize  what 
that  meant,  for  Tibetans  are  very  much  afraid  of  that 
dread  disease,  and  flee  from  it  as  we  would  from  yellow 
fever  or  cholera.  But  I  said  that  I  was  not  afraid,  and 
that  they  must  go  with  me  or  they  could  not  have  the 
telescope  for  their  chief ;  whereupon  they  intimated  that 
it  would  be  better  to  be  killed  by  the  ponho  while  among 
their  own  friends,  than  to  die  of  smallpox  among  stran- 
gers !  It  was  of  no  avail  for  me  to  say  that  when  we 
arrived  within  sight  of  Jyekundo  they  might  return, 
and  I  would  proceed  alone,  for  they  would  not  take 
another  step  in  that  direction.  I  felt  that  they  were 
only  endeavoring  again  to  cheat  me,  so  I  suggested  hav- 
ing breakfast  there  near  the  tents,  for  I  was  faint  with 
the  long  horseback  ride,  the  severe  strain  of  watching 
the  men,  and  the  almost  hopeless  task  of  balking  them 
in  their  wicked  designs.  I  did  not  dare  to  tell  them 
I  would  dispense  with  their  services,  for  that  would 
at  once  have  turned  them  into  bitter  enemies,  leaving 
me  to  again  make  my  way  alone  and  unknown  to  tents, 
where  they  probably  would  have  scattered  calumny.  I 
could  scarcely  restrain  the  feeling  of  desperation  that 
forced  itself  upon  me,  and  it  was  difficult  to  keep  the 


338  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

guides  from  thinking  that  I  was  almost  nonplussed  to 
know  what  was  the  most  expedient  course  to  pursue. 
Any  attempts  to  induce  them  to  go  to  Jyekundo  proved 
futile,  and  I  concluded  to  accept  their  offer  to  guide 
me  along  the  caravan  road  to  where  there  was  a  China- 
man, for  I  felt  if  only  I  could  see  one  of  the  Chinese 
merchants  so  common  near  Tibetan  towns,  that  he 
would  certainly  help  me,  a  surmise  which  afterward 
proved  correct.  After  considerable  bargaining  and  al- 
most a  fight  between  the  two  men,  one  of  them  drawing 
his  sword  at  the  other  (whereupon  I  acted  as  peace- 
maker— an  important  personage  in  all  oriental  disturb- 
ances), I  gave  them  ten  ounces  of  silver,  and  promised 
them  the  telescope  when  we  found  a  Chinaman.  It  is 
as  a  rule  very  poor  policy  to  pay  all  the  money  down  to 
guides,  and  I  refused  to  do  it,  but  they  would  not  stir 
from  the  place  until  I  had,  though  of  course  I  held  a 
firm  hold  over  them  through  the  telescope.  At  the  first 
tent  we  came  to,  they  inquired  the  whereabouts  of  the 
Chinese  merchants,  and  led  me  off  the  road  along  a 
little  foot-path,  by  following  which  we  would  find  some 
in  two  days.  My  whole  nature  revolted  against  travel- 
ing with  them,  for  I  knew  they  were  bad  men  trying  to 
cheat  me,  but  it  was  best  to  be  patient,  and  so  I  tried 
to  keep  my  thoughts  on  the  brightest  side  of  things. 

We  camped  in  one  of  nature's  loveliest  spots  that 
night — in  a  little  recess  among  the  hills  where  many 
tents  were  pitched  on  pretty  grassy  strips,  where  flocks 
and  herds  were  peacefully  grazing,  and  where  babbled 
winding  brooks,  on  the  bank  of  one  of  which  we  made 
a  fire.    The  bad  men  spent  the  evening  in  a  black  tent. 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  339 

but  I  was  almost  petrified  when  they  said  we  were  ap- 
proaching a  lamasery  where  there  was  an  intense  hatred 
of  foreigners,  and  that  if  it  were  discovered  that  I  was 
a  foreigner  we  would  all  be  killed;  so  that  everything 
that  would  betray  my  nationality  must  be  destroyed. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  struggle  I  had  when  my  hus- 
band's Bible  that  he  had  used  for  years — ^his  most  pre- 
cious possession — and  his  diary,  were  condemned  to  be 
destroyed  by  being  buried  in  a  miry  stream  with  stones 
piled  on  them;  but  I  had  to  accede  to  their  requests  or 
face  further  trouble.  The  next  day  we  went  on,  the 
men  acting  most  mysteriously  when  the  shades  of  night 
overwhelmed  us,  leading  the  way  high  up  into  a  sort  of 
cauldron  in  the  hills,  far  from  some  tents  in  the  valley, 
where  we  could  apparently  have  so  peacefully  remained. 
We  found  just  enough  water  to  make  a  little  tea,  and 
then  lay  down  to  rest.  Suddenly  a  voice  near  us  rang 
out  in  the  darkness,  the  men  hushed  up  their  dog,  hast- 
ily arose,  donned  their  sheepskins,  ignited  the  fuses 
for  their  guns,  and  stood  ready  to  defend  their  horses, 
while  I  prayed  for  protection.  The  shouting  continued, 
but  slowly  died  away  in  the  distance,  when  one  of  the 
men  remarked  that  they  must  be  searching  for  us,  or  it 
was  some  one  who  was  lost,  so  he  in  his  turn  called,  and 
soon,  guided  by  the  voice,  the  stranger  made  his  way  to 
the  fire,  and  the  three  talked  together,  I  heard  him 
ask  who  I  was,  and  the  guides  replied  that  I  was  a  Chi- 
iiaman  who  was  going  to  join  his  companions  at  the 
lamasery,  but  I  did  not  know  the  language  at  all,  so  he 
need  not  address  me,  a  very  artful  way  indeed  to  pre- 
vent his  finding  out  that  I  was  a  foreign  woman.    Pies- 


340  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ently  he  went  away,  and  returned  almost  immediately 
with  three  men.  I  felt  that  there  was  something 
amiss,  but  soon  discovered  that  owing  to  our  suspicious 
actions  we  had  been  taken  for  robbers,  and  they  were  a 
deputation  sent  by  the  chief  to  investigate.  On  their 
departure  they  had  taken  with  them  one  of  the  guns  be- 
longing to  my  men,  as  security  that  we  would  molest  no 
one  during  the  night.  I  was  painfully  weary  but  dared 
not  sleep,  and  rejoiced  that  we  would  probably  reach 
the  lamasery  of  Eashi  Gomba  the  following  morning 
when  I  would  let  the  men  go  back  to  their  homes.  I 
hope  no  other  travelers  will  ever  fall  into  their  hands. 
At  daybreak  a  young  lama  brought  back  the  gun,  and 
as  I  had  the  seal  of  silence  on  my  lips  he  believed  that 
I  was  a  Chinaman.  My  hat  and  fur  collar  concealed 
the  most  of  my  face,  which  was  far  from  white,  and 
my  garments  were  by  no  means  unlike  those  worn  by 
a  merchant  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  especially  my  big 
straw  hat,  which  the  guides  implored  me  to  wear  in 
order  to  cover  my  face  and  hair.  How  beautiful  was 
the  country  through  which  we  wended  our  way  on  that 
bright  day !  Evergreen  trees  dotted  the  grassy  hillsides 
and  were  welcomed  as  old  friends,  for  I  had  seen  none 
for  many  months.  Was  it  because  hope  sang  in  my 
heart,  that  nature  looked  bright  and  inviting?  Or  was 
it  that  breezes  whispered  the  same  stories  through  the 
boughs  as  I  had  often  listened  to  in  far-away  Canada? 
Or  perhaps  the  secret  lay  in  the  fact  that  in  a  few  hours 
I  should  have  parted  company  with  the  worst  men  I 
had  ever  had  the  misfortune  to  come  in  contact  with. 
The  tents,  nestled  in  snug  corners  of  the  valleys,  looked 


WICKED  TIBETAN  GUIDES  341 

inviting,  and  I  would  not  have  had  any  fear  to  make 
my  way  to  them,  for  where  Chinese  merchants  are  com- 
mon, Tibetans  are  as  a  rule  tolerant  and  liberal.  Pres- 
ently we  came  in  sight  of  a  small  lamasery  which  was, 
as  is  usual  with  these  villages,  built  partly  on  the  slopes 
of  hills  and  partly  in  the  valley  beside  a  river,  and 
though  the  houses  were  not  many  in  number  they  were 
very  substantial  and  looked  well.  There  were  hundreds 
of  tents  of  different  kinds  scattered  around  the  lamas' 
abodes,  and  I  realized  there  was  a  fair  in  progress,  thus 
accounting  for  the  large  number  of  people  in  gay  ap- 
parel whom  we  had  seen  journeying  in  our  direction.  A 
Tibetan  fair  is  the  last  place  foreigners  should  go  to 
when  they  are  unknown,  for  a  rabble  of  people  drinking 
and  carousing  is  unreliable,  and  just  as  likely  to  be  hos- 
tile as  friendly.  The  men  found  a  Chinese  merchant 
who  had  rooms  in  a  lama's  house,  so  to  him  we  went,  and 
as  I  was  debarred  from  entering  the  lamasery  because 
I  was  a  woman,  he  came  out  to  see  me.  The  guides 
merely  told  him  that  I  was  a  Chinese  woman  from  Sin- 
ing,  and  immediately  made  off,  telescope  and  all,  but  I 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  even  though  I  had  as  yet  to 
make  a  friendly  atmosphere  for  myself  in  my  new 
surroundings. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

A  FRIENDLY  CHINAMAN 

A  Protector  at  Last — I  Receive  a  Passport  from  the 
Abbot  of  Rashi  Gomba — A  Lama  Guide — Battle 
With  Fierce  Dogs — Arrival  at  Jyekundo — No  Offi- 
cial Aid. 

Near  the  entrance  in  the  mud-brick  wall  around 
the  house  stood  a  group  of  lamas,  conspicuous  among 
whom  was  a  Chinaman  about  fifty  years  old,  with  pock- 
marked face  and  typical  Chinese  features,  who  wore 
the  ordinary  Chinese  garb,  not  omitting  even  the  little 
circular  black  hat  with  the  red  button.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  my  cursory  glance  at  him  to  give  me' cause  for 
either  hope  or  fear,  though  his  first  words  might  seal 
my  fate,  for  he  could  wield  as  he  chose  the  curious  and 
idle  crowd  that  was  quickly  gathering  about  and  hem- 
ming us  in.  What  would  be  his  first  hasty  thought? 
Would  he  be  unfriendly  and  so  increase  the  innate  pre- 
judice of  the  unruly  and  armed  Tibetans?  or  would 
he  grasp  the  situation  and  thus  save  me? 

I  addressed  him  as  lao-yeh  (a  very  respectful  title  to 
give  an  old  man  or  one  of  rank),  in  my  Sining  dialect 
of  the  Chinese,  which  would  tally  with  the  announce- 
ment of  the  guides  that  I  was  a  Chinese  woman  from 

342 


A  FRIENDLY  CHINAMAN  343 

Sining;  but  his  first  sentence  told  me  that  he  had 
pierced  my  identity  with  his  careful  scrutiny,  and  knew 
that  I  was  a  European,  for  he  said,  "  How  is  it  that 
you  are  here  all  alone  like  this  ?  "  He  had  recognized 
the  bond  between  us  of  our  being  the  only  "  strangers 
in  a  strange  land,"  and  though  several  Tibetans  said 
that  I  was  not  Chinese  but  peling,  he  gave  them  no 
heed;  while  I  opened  my  heart  to  him  and  told 
him  of  the  fate  of  our  caravan,  of  our  little  son's 
death,  of  our  being  robbed,  and  then  of  the  awful 
separation  from  my  husband — with  the  subsequent 
necessity  of  my  traveling  alone.  He  was  touched — the 
death  of  a  son  always  comes  with  sorrow  to  a  Chinaman 
— and  he  said,  "  You  have  eaten  much  bitterness.  Quiet 
your  heart,  for  now  that  you  are  with  us  Chinese  you 
are  all  right.  The  Tibetans  are  bad,  but  we  are  all 
travelers  alike."  Some  of  the  lamas  brought  me  a 
pitcher  of  tea  which  was  indeed  welcome,  while  we  two 
conversed  in  a  language  which  the  Tibetans  did  not  un- 
derstand, and  he  communicated  to  them  as  much  of  the 
information  as  he  deemed  wise,  withholding  the  fact 
that  I  was  not  a  Chinese  woman,  though  had  they  looked 
at  my  feet  they  might  have  known. 

It  was  with  a  great  shock  of  disappointment  that  I 
learned  of  the  absence  from  Jyekundo  of  the  Chinese 
official,  for  the  representative  of  the  Amban  had  left 
that  place  in  the  summer,  and  no  one  would  come  to  fill 
the  office  until  the  following  year.  Thus  my  hopes  of 
aid  from  that  source  were  crushed,  but  the  merchant 
said  there  was  no  small-pox  there.  He  had  a  depot 
for  trade  in  that  town,  and  when  the  five  days  of  the 


344  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

fair  were  ended,  he  would  be  returning,  and  he  offered 
me  the  escort  of  himself  and  his  men  if  I  would  wait  and 
go  with  them.  In  the  meantime  the  lamas  erected  a 
comfortable  shelter  near  the  doorway  where  I  could 
remain  until  we  were  ready  to  leave ;  but,  though  kind- 
ness and  sincerity  had  prompted  the  act,  I  felt  that  I, 
a  woman  alone,  was  not  safe.  So  I  made  known  my 
misgivings  to  Kia  Chong-kuei-teh,  the  Chinaman,  say- 
ing that  if  only  I  were  near  other  women,  or  could  pro- 
cure an  escort  to  Jyekundo  where  I  might  rest  until  he 
came,  I  would  feel  safer  than  at  the  fair  where  I  would 
have  to  remain  five  days,  each  day  increasing  the  tur- 
bulent crowd.  There  was  little  possibility  of  being  able 
to  persuade  anyone  to  leave  the  fair  just  at  its  com- 
mencement, but  he  clearly  saw  the  reasons  for  my  fears, 
so  towards  evening  I  was  taken  to  the  proximity  of  a 
black  tent  where  there  were  Buddhist  nuns,  in  which  I 
was  to  have  quarters,  I  could  scarcely  realize  the  tran- 
sition from  such  deep  fear  when  with  those  guides,  to 
the  sense  of  peace  that  resulted  from  the  care,  respect 
and  friendly  interest  manifested  by  that  Chinaman 
and  the  priests.  As  evening  settled  down,  one  of 
the  lamas  took  my  horse  to  his  home  where  I  would  have 
no  anxiety  concerning  him,  and  as  I  drank  in  the  de- 
light of  the  peaceful  shepherd  scenes  about  me,  my 
troubled  heart  was  lulled  into  a  calm.  The  black  cattle 
came  slowly  in,  glad  to  see  their  young  again,  the  sheep 
pattered  along  bleating,  horses  whinnied  joyfully, 
women  carried  water  from  the  clear  mountain  stream, 
while  a  short  distance  away  the  visitors  to  the  fair  in 
their  gay  garments  were  busy  piling  up  near  the  white 


A  FRIENDLY  CHINAMAN  346 

or  blue  tents  their  merchandise,  and  tethering  their 
transport  yak,  or  mules  and  horses  where  they  could 
exercise  vigilance  over  them  during  the  night. 

Early  the  following  morning  a  messenger  came  to 
inform  me  that  I  was  to  leave  that  day  for  Jyekundo. 
Kia  Chong-kuei-teh  had,  contrary  to  his  most  sanguine 
expectations,  received  from  the  abbot  of  Rashi  Gomba, 
the  lamasery  where  I  was  staying,  a  passport  duly 
signed  and  sealed  by  the  same,  which  said  that  I  was  a 
Chinese  woman  from  Sining  sent  by  the  officials  of 
Nagch'uk'a,  and  that  I  was  to  have  ula  and  escort  to 
Jyekundo.  Presently  a  lama  brought  my  horse  which 
he  saddled,  putting  my  load  on  it,  and  then  led  me 
into  the  presence  of  the  Chinaman,  who  communicated 
his  plan  for  my  safety,  saying  that  a  lama  would  go 
with  me  until  we  reached  a  chief  in  the  Jyekundo  dis- 
trict who  would  provide  an  escort  to  the  town  itself, 
where  I  was  to  inquire  for  his  home,  and  stay  there  until 
he  arrived.  He  also  tried  to  have  a  piece  of  silver 
changed  into  Indian  rupees,  but  the  abbot  not  having 
any  use  for  my  sycee  wanted  too  much  discount,  so  the 
merchant  himself  changed  it  without  loss  to  me.  It  is 
only  fair  to  pay  a  tribute  to  this  man,  a  perfect  stranger, 
who  treated  me  in  as  kind  and  thoughtful  a  manner 
as  any  European  could  have  done,  not  expecting  to  re- 
ceive the  smallest  compensation  for  his  pains  either.  It 
is  not  pleasant  to  hear  wholesale  condemnation  of  the 
Chinese  race  from  people  who  know  very  little  about 
them;  all  Chinese  are  not  Boxers,  and  if  my  experi- 
ence with  that  merchant  will  tend  somewhat  to  modify 
anyone's  opinion  about  them,  I  shall  be  satisfied.    The 


346  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

old  lama  who  was  to  accompany  me  to  the  nearest  sec- 
tion under  Jyekiindo  jurisdiction  intimated  that  he  was 
ready,  so  I  bade  good-bye  to  those  who  had  befriended 
me,  and  winding  our  way  around  a  high  wall  built  en- 
tirely of  white  mani  stones,  inscribed  with  the  mystic 
formula,  0  mani  padme  hum,  we  paused  before  the  old 
man's  house  to  tell  his  relatives  where  he  was  going. 
After  that  we  followed  the  crystal  stream  a  short  dis- 
tance, and  then,  crossing  it,  stopped  beside  a  tent.  I 
was  given  an  abiding  place  in  the  shelter  of  a  huge 
stone  which  protected  me  from  the  cold,  while  the  sun 
shed  its  genial  warmth  about  me,  and,  as  almost  all  the 
natives  were  at  the  fair,  I  had  no  idlers  lounging  around 
from  curiosity.  Thus  for  hours  I  sat  alone  reviewing 
the  past  days  and  planning  the  future  ones,  still  en- 
joying the  respite  from  strain,  and  having  no  fear  of 
such  treachery  as  had  almost  led  to  my  doom  the  last 
time  I  had  received  an  escort  from  a  chief.  The  old 
lama  boiled  my  tea,  and,  with  kindness  supreme, 
brought  his  rug  out  and,  settling  himself  not  far  from 
me  for  the  night,  guarded  me  from  harm  and  danger. 
This  may  have  been  due  to  the  respect  and  civility 
shown  those  who  are  traveling  on  a  passport,  for  when 
a  traveler  has  ula,  the  people  are  supposed  to  watch 
over  him  and  his  belongings  to  insure  safety  against 
thieves. 

Jyekundo  is  two  days*  journey  from  Eashi  Gomba, 
but  we  spent  three  days  after  we  left  the  old  man's 
tents  in  reaching  the  town,  and  I  did  not  at  all  object. 
The  first  day  was  a  long  one,  for  we  traveled  from  early 
morning  until  almost  dark,  through  beautiful  country 


0^ 

< 

Q 

S 
U 
en 


W 

O 
H 
en 


A  FEIENDLY  CHINAMAN  347 

in  places  dotted  with  trees  and  alternately  mountain- 
ous and  level.  We  lunched  in  the  afternoon  with  two 
travelers  known  to  my  lama,  one  a  well-to-do  merchant, 
the  other  a  nun,  good-looking,  sprightly,  and  appar- 
ently very  devotional,  diligently  mumbling  prayers,  but 
ready  whenever  the  desired  opportunity  came  to  take 
her  share  in  the  conversation.  They  were  on  their  way 
to  the  fair,  but  were  camping  for  the  night;  so  they 
had  piled  up  their  baggage,  mostly  tsamha  and  tea, 
and  taken  shelter  beside  it.  They  were  both  well- 
dressed,  had  silver  tsamha  basins,  silver  mounted  knives, 
etc.,  and  were  on  very  familiar  terms  with  each  other; 
while  Moggie,  as  the  men  called  the  nun,  coquettishly 
resented  the  teasing  she  received  from  one  of  those  who 
had  accompanied  me. 

Another  interesting  woman  played  an  important  part 
in  our  evening's  entertainment,  for,  having  passed 
through  tangled  copsewood,  we  reached  a  group  of  tents, 
at  one  of  which  the  men  called  and  in  answer  a  woman 
came  forth.  She  was  about  fifty  years  of  age,  with  an 
intensely  pleasant  face  and  characteristic  manner,  her 
head  crowned  with  discs  of  amber,  her  hair  with  streaks 
of  silver  in  it,  her  hands  decked  with  jewels.  Her  hus- 
band, the  government  steward,  was  away,  so  she  held 
the  reins  of  authority,  and  when  my  passport  had  been 
examined  amidst  considerable  friendly  discussion,  dur- 
ing which  the  Eashi  lama  was  often  mentioned,  she 
invited  us  to  select  a  camping  spot.  Meanwhile  she  re- 
paired to  her  tent,  almost  immediately  returning  with  a 
brass  teapot  wrought  in  curious  and  elaborate  design, 
filled  with  milk  tea  which  she  proffered  for  our  refresh- 


348  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ment.  The  old  lama  then  gave  me  over  to  her  care,  ad- 
juring her  to  make  sure  that  I  should  be  protected  from 
the  dogs,  and  when  all  was  amicably  settled  she  with- 
drew to  the  tents.  The  three  of  us  made  ourselves  as 
comfortable  as  possible  for  the  night,  although  we  were 
much  startled  by  dogs  and  people  running  about  in  an 
excited  manner,  because,  as  we  learned  from  one  of  our 
men  who  went  to  inquire,  there  were  people  camped 
beyond  the  copse  who  were  supposed  to  be  robbers,  and 
the  chief  had  ordered  an  investigation  to  be  made  by 
the  tent-dwellers  in  the  vicinity;  hence  the  confusion. 
In  the  morning  my  two  guides  having  returned  to  Kashi 
Gomba,  I  was  supplied  with  an  escort  consisting  of  a 
man  and  his  son  who,  as  is  the  custom  with  ula,  led 
me  to  the  tents  where  the  latter  was  to  be  supplied, 
and  in  their  turn  left  me  with  strangers  in  an  extensive 
plain.  That  night  was  as  uncomfortable  as  any  I  ever 
spent  among  the  Tibetans.  It  was  raining  and  snowing, 
and  as  the  natives  did  not  wish  to  sleep  out-of-doors 
beside  me,  they  provided  me  with  a  large  heavy  native 
woolen  rug,  and  went  themselves  into  their  tents  to 
sleep,  leaving  me  outside  entirely  alone,  though  that 
is  unusual  when  one  has  ula.  The  dogs,  over  a  dozen  in 
number,  large  and  ferocious,  soon  discovered  that  I  was 
a  foreign  element  near  their  home,  and  came  at  in- 
tervals during  the  night,  barking  around  me,  scratch- 
ing at  my  blankets  and  jumping  upon  me,  while  I  kept 
well  covered,  with  a  hand  grasping  the  bellows  to  strike 
one  if  he  ventured  too  near  my  head.  I  felt  like  some 
one  who  is  being  hunted  to  the  death,  and  called  aloud 
for  help ;  but,  though  the  people  heard  the  dogs  and  un- 


A  FEIENDLY  CHINAMAN  349 

derstood  what  was  wrong,  they  heeded  me  not,  and  I 
could  hear  them  laughing  and  talking.  As  far  as  they 
were  concerned  I  might  have  been  torn  and  bitten,  but 
morning  found  me  safe.  Soon  afterward  I  left  with  one 
man  and  a  yak  for  Jyekundo,  and,  having  traveled 
about  three  hours,  we  suddenly  saw  cultivated  fields, 
which  to  me  were  the  harbingers  of  peace  and  safety. 
A  great  joy  possessed  my  heart,  for  months  had  passed 
since  last  I  saw  such  marks  of  civilization. 

The  town  of  Jyekundo  was  not  far  from  the  little 
farms.  Turning  abruptly  into  another  valley  we  saw 
the  bright  walls  of  the  lamasery  on  the  summit  of  a 
steep  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  was  the  secular  part 
of  the  town,  made  up  of  houses  substantially  built  of 
mud-brick,  with  flat  roofs,  the  whole  reminding  one  of 
a  beehive,  for  the  natives  were  busy  ascending  and  de- 
fending the  incline  between  the  town  and  a  clear  placid 
river  flowing  below  it.  The  valley  was  level  and  fairly 
green,  droves  of  yak  were  resting  and  grazing  in  it, 
while  throngs  of  travelers  were  coming  and  going  all 
the  time,  all  reminding  me  of  the  old  scenes  at  Tankar. 
We  wended  our  way  across  a  little  bridge  spanning  the 
river,  and  up  into  a  street  upon  which  opened  court- 
yards and  a  few  shops. 

The  Tibetan  with  me  did  not  know  the  whereabouts 
of  Kia  Chong-huei-teh's  house,  so  he  stopped  in  the 
center  of  the  street,  and  quickly  a  crowd  of  Tibetan 
men,  women  and  children,  with  a  few  Chinese,  sur- 
rounded me.  I  could  get  no  one  to  direct  me  to  the 
merchant's  home,  as  all  seemed  afraid  to  help  me,  so 
I  showed  my  passport  from  the  Rashi  lama,  and  asked 


350  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

for  a  room  to  dwell  in  for  a  few  days,  the  man  who 
was  my  escort  seconding  the  demand  because  he  was 
in  a  hurry  to  leave,  and  yet  could  not  dump  my 
bedding,  which  was  carried  on  his  yak,  into  the  street. 
The  abbot  of  Rashi  Gomba  seemed  to  be  much  re- 
spected, and  several  of  the  natives  endeavored  to  find 
someone  willing  to  give  me  a  lodging,  succeeding 
eventually  in  securing  a  room  in  the  home  of  an  old 
man  to  whom  I  promised  two  rupees  for  the  use  of  it — 
every  Chinaman  around  helping  to  Tciang  the  price. 
Followed  by  a  motley  crowd,  I  made  my  way  to  the 
house,  the  rooms  of  which  were  built  around  a  central 
courtyard,  on  one  side  two-storied,  on  all  the  other 
sides  flat  roofed.  I  found  that  a  corner  room  had  been 
allotted  to  me.  Around  the  walls  hung  quarters  of 
beef  and  dressed  sheep,  on  one  side  were  heaped  heads 
of  animals  and  piles  of  wool;  but  when  the  room  had 
been  swept  and  my  rug  spread  on  the  floor,  though 
there  was  no  window  and  no  furniture,  I  felt  that  I 
had,  at  least  for  a  few  days,  a  resting  place.  One  never 
knows  how  the  evil  intentions  of  men  may  be  trans- 
formed into  blessings,  when  the  ultimate  issue  of  their 
actions  has  been  made  known.  When  the  guides  led 
me,  not  to  Jyekundo,  but  to  Rashi  Gomba  in  order  to 
cheat  me,  I  did  not  realize  that  only  good  would  be  the 
outcome,  but  I  was  thankful  when  I  stood  for  two  hours 
in  the  streets  of  Jyekundo  endeavoring  to  get  an  abid- 
ing place,  that  I  had  not  been  brought  there  by  those 
two  men.  In  that  case  I  should  have  been  without  the 
passport  that  really  proved  to  be  the  sesame. 

Among  the  people  crowding  about  were  two  Tibetan 


A  PEIENDLY  CHINAMAN  361 

women  of  great  beauty,  white  skin,  rosy  cheeks,  good 
features,  pleasant  manners,  well  dressed  in  cloth  gowns 
and  bedecked  with  jewels.  They  were  great  favorites 
with  the  Chinese  merchants,  who  admired  them,  and, 
contrary  to  the  custom  in  the  latter's  own  country,  were 
familiar  with  them.  The  house  I  lodged  in  belonged 
in  part,  if  not  wholly,  to  one  of  these  women,  who 
could  speak  considerable  Chinese,  and  who  had  been 
much  liked  by  the  Chinese  official  who  had  been  sta- 
tioned there. 

This  town  has  many  different  names.  I  have  heard 
it  called  Kegedo,  Jedo  and  Jyeku,  though  Jyekundo  is, 
I  believe,  the  correct  name.  It  has  an  altitude  of 
12,935  feet  according  to  Rockhill,  is  situated  at  the 
confluence  of  two  streams  whose  waters  empty  into  the 
Dre  Chu  not  far  from  it,  and,  together  with  the 
lamasery,  has  a  settled  population  of  nearly  one  thou- 
sand, and  a  floating  one  of  several  hundred.  It  is  of 
great  commercial  importance,  built,  as  it  is,  at  the 
junction  of  several  large  roads,  radiating  in  different 
directions,  the  principal  one  of  which  leads  to  Ta- 
Chien-lu,  the  second  to  Nagch'uk'a,  while  others  lead 
to  Ch'amdo,  Sungpan,  Sining  and  Taocheo.  The 
Chinese  merchants  who  reside  at  Jyekundo  import 
flour,  tea,  tobacco,  chinaware,  cotton  cloth,  thread, 
buttons  and  red  leather,  exchanging  them  for  furs,  gold 
dust,  musk,  drugs,  deer  horns  and  wool.  They  find  the 
trade  profitable,  but  do  not  enjoy  life  at  Jyekundo  on 
account  of  the  cold  weather  and  the  precarious  position 
of  all  foreigners  among  the  Tibetans,  who  are  so 
changeable  and  often  violent. 


352  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

In  this  town  W.  W.  Eockhill  met  with  no  little 
trouble,  for  the  chief  informed  the  natives  that  if 
they  sold  him  food  the  money  he  gave  them  in  payment 
would,  through  the  foreigner's  subtle  power,  be  drawn 
back  to  himself;  hence  they  were  forbidden  to  have 
any  communication  until  he,  the  ponho,  should  return 
from  a  conference  with  another  chief  as  to  what  course 
they  should  pursue  towards  the  unexpected  and  unwel- 
come stranger.  In  the  meantime  the  friendly  Chinese 
persuaded  Eockhill  to  leave  for  Ta-Chien-lu,  before 
the  chief's  reappearance,  otherwise  he  would  assuredly 
be  compelled,  however  unwilling  he  might  be,  to  re- 
trace his  steps  to  the  Ts'aidam. 

Eminently  different  was  my  sojourn  in  Jyekundo. 
The  Chinese  merchants  accepted  me  as  one  of  their  own 
countrymen,  and  vied  with  one  another  in  endeavoring 
to  make  me  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would  per- 
mit, one  of  them  sending  me  by  his  servant  a  large  dish 
of  m'ien  with  meat  and  vegetables. 

The  morning  after  my  arrival,  amid  considerable 
confusion,  my  room  was  entered  by  a  man  whose  face 
betrayed  at  once  that  he  was  a  Mongol,  looking 
very  familiar  among  the  Tibetans  who  had  accom- 
panied him.  To  my  astonishment  and  great  pleasure, 
he  addressed  me  in  Sining  Chinese,  and  when  I  had 
answered  him  in  the  same  tongue  he  turned  triumph- 
antly to  the  bystanders,  saying,  "  She  is  indeed  from 
Sining,  for  her  words  are  Sining  words."  He  then  told 
me  that  he  had  been  absent  from  home  when  I  arrived 
the  day  previous,  and  had  quite  resented  the  informa- 
tion given  him  that  a   Chinese  woman  from   Sining 


A  FRIENDLY  CHINAMAN  353 

was  in  Jyekundo,  and  having  come  expressly  to  prove 
that  I  was  not  from  Sining,  was  amazed  to  recognize 
my  dialect.  His  home  was  near  Tankar,  and  he  had 
come  to  Jyekundo  as  interpreter  to  the  Chinese 
official,  had  married  a  Tibetan  woman,  to  whom  he 
had  become  so  attached  that  the  thought  of  parting 
brought  him  pain,  and  he  was  waiting  until  she  and 
their  small  family  of  children  could  accompany  him 
to  his  old  home.  In  the  meantime  he  had  official  rank, 
and  was  acting  in  connection  with  the  Amban's  govern- 
ment at  Jyekundo.  Calling  me  his  relative  and  guest, 
he  constituted  himself  my  protector  and  friend, 
thereby  rendering  me  services  that  can  never  be  ade- 
quately acknowledged.  We  had  scores  of  acquaint- 
ances in  common,  for  his  ancestral  home  was  in  a  little 
lamasery  on  the  Hsi-ho  in  the  vicinity  of  our  old  home, 
and  I  was  able  to  give  him  the  first  reliable  account 
that  he  had  had  of  the  Mohammedan  rebellion,  the 
devastation  by  the  rebels,  and  the  wonderful  foreign 
guns  and  torpedoes  which  helped  so  efficiently  to 
quench  the  ardor  of  the  Huei-huei. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Chinese  official  the  ab- 
bot of  the  lamasery  was  almost  supreme  in  au- 
thority, but  my  desire  to  personally  interview  him 
did  not  prevail  against  the  stringent  laws  forbid- 
ding women  to  enter  the  lamasery  except  once, 
annually,  for  the  purpose  of  worship;  so  my  con- 
ferences were  carried  on  through  my  Mongol  friend, 
for  such  he  assuredly  proved  himself  to  be.  I  gave  him 
particulars  concerning  the  robbery,  and  Mr.  Rijnhart's 
mysterious  disappearance,  which  he  considered  due  to 


354  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

his  having  been  murdered,  for  he  said  the  natives  of 
Ga-Je  have  a  reputation  for  being  difficult  to  restrain, 
cruel  and  treacherous  to  an  extreme.  When  I  asked 
that  an  investigation  should  be  made  in  the  latter  lo- 
cality the  chief  said  he  had  no  responsibility  or  au- 
thority in  that  region,  and  during  the  absence  of  the 
Chinese  official  nothing  could  be  done,  that  Sining 
would  have  to  be  notified,  and  the  Amban  would  per- 
sonally send  an  expedition.  By  sending  up  my  two 
Chinese  passports  and  the  Tibetan  one  I  had  received 
from  the  Eashi  lama,  I  impressed  upon  him  my  right 
to  an  escort,  and  asked  him  to  provide  me  with  means 
to  travel  in  safety  back  to  my  home  in  Tankar;  but  he 
said  that  he  was  sorry  that  such  an  arrangement  was 
beyond  his  power,  for  the  road  was  so  infested  by 
brigands  that  a  very  large  escort  would  be  required  to 
protect  me,  besides  the  fact  that  the  trails  are  im- 
passable in  winter. 

The  districts  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Sin- 
ing Amban  extend  only  to  Kansa,  two  days'  jour- 
ney from  Jyekundo  on  the  road  to  Ta-chien-lu, 
hence  the  Tibetan  chief  could  not  be  responsible 
for  my  being  kindly  treated  in  the  provinces  of 
Derge  and  Horba,  which  are  under  Sze  Chuan  gov- 
ernment. I  had  to  adopt  careful  tactics  to  induce 
or  compel  him  to  make  provision  for  my  safe  journey, 
and  emphatically  said  that  unless  he  would  give  me  a 
good  passport  and  an  order  for  ula,  I  woidd  wait  in 
Jyekundo  until  the  Chinese  official  arrived  from 
Sining.  As  the  trouble  caused  by  the  Frenchman's 
murder  was  fresh  in  their  minds,  and  my  husband's 


A  FEIENDLY  CHIITAMAN  355 

fate  was  unknown,  the  abbot  would  not  have  me  re- 
main in  his  locality  for  any  consideration,  so  with 
the  aid  of  my  Mongol  friend,  devised  means  for  my 
traveling  in  safety  to  China.  The  Chinese  merchants 
were  all  in  the  midst  of  their  most  profitable  trade,  and 
none  of  their  caravans  were  leaving  except  one,  that 
was  to  be  sent  on  from  place  to  place  by  agents  in  the 
various  towns  along  the  route,  and  might  be  delayed 
a  month  in  a  place  waiting  for  transport  animals;  so 
they,  even  Kia  Cliong-Tcuei-teJi,  could  give  me  no  help. 
The  chief  sent  me  presents  of  tsamha,  butter,  straw 
for  my  horse  and  meat  that  I  had  to  give  away  because 
from  its  odor  it  did  not  promise  to  be  very  palatable, 
and  manifested  his  interest  in  my  welfare  by  not  per- 
mitting me  to  pay  any  rent  for  the  room,  as  I  was 
considered  an  official  guest.  Soon  a  passport  was  ready 
for  me,  and  literally  translated  read  as  follows: 
"  Passport. — This  foreign  lady,  traveling  to  Ta- 
Chien-lu,  by  the  supreme  order  of  the  above  great 
person,  the  chief  of  every  place  through  which  her 
way  leads  must  diligently  see  to  it  that  she  is  provided 
with  escort  to  accompany  her.  The  lady  has  no  horse. 
She  arrived  at  Jedo  on  the  first  of  ninth  moon,  and 
leaves  on  the  tenth  of  tenth  moon.  Passport  and  ula 
given  by  three  chiefs  to  Sze  Chuan  Kansa."  The  seals 
of  three  chiefs  were  to  be  affixed  to  the  document  to 
give  it  greater  weight,  and  the  chief  said  that  no  one 
on  the  road  would  assume  the  responsibility  of  refusing 
to  conduct  me  safely  beyond  his  section,  so  I  would 
reach  my  destination  in  perfect  security.  Having 
changed  enough  of  my  bullion  silver  to  give  me  a  suf- 


356  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ficient  number  of  rupees  for  my  journey,  he  sent  me 
his  best  wishes  for  peace  on  the  way,  and  the  inter- 
preter, the  escort  with  the  ula,  and  myself  rode  out 
of  the  town,  across  the  river  and  beautiful  plain  into 
the  main  road  leading  from  Jyekundo  to  Ta-chien-lu, 
a  very  large  wide  trail.  Varied  were  my  experiences 
during  the  month  I  spent  in  reaching  the  Chinese 
border,  sometimes  so  thrilling  that  I  doubted  whether 
I  should  even  yet  meet  my  death  in  Tibetan  wilds, 
separated  by  long  stretches  of  country  from  the  two 
who  had  been  so  much  to  me. 


CHAPTEE   XXIV 

MORE    ROBBERS 

From  Jyekundo  to  Kansa — Difficulties  with  Ula — At 
the  Home  of  the  Gimbi — Corrupt  Lamas — Attacked 
by  Drunken  Eobbers — Deliverance. 

The  parallel  upon  which  Jyekundo  is  situated  marks 
approximately  the  boundary  line  between  the  districts 
of  Tibet  governed  by  the  Amban  at  Sining  and  those 
under  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Governor-General  of  Sze 
Chuan,  and  though  Jyekundo  is  the  most  northerly 
military  post  there  are  several  to  the  south;  three  of 
these  are  on  the  road  which  I  was  to  follow  to  Ta- 
ehien-lu,  one  at  Kanze,  one  at  Dao,  and  one  at  Tai-lin. 
A  colonel  with  a  small  number  of  soldiers  is  stationed 
at  each  post.  Though  they  have  no  authority  over  the 
Tibetan  chiefs  they  report  to  Ta-chien-lu  on  the  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  so  that  should  there  be  any  diffi- 
culty brewing  troops  might  be  dispatched,  and  thus 
avoid  a  struggle  that  might  end  in  great  bloodshed. 
In  the  district  governed  by  Sze  Chuan  the  position  of 
the  Chinese  officials  is  a  very  precarious  one,  and  great 
tact  must  be  used  by  them  in  dealing  with  the  natives 
who  consider  the  Chinese  as  inferiors  in  courage  and 
endurance;  but,  in  the  portion  under  Sining  super- 

357 


358  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

vision  the  natives  fear  the  Amban  and  the  Chinese  sol- 
diers to  a  surprising  extent;  hence  it  is  that  the 
Amban's  authority  is  unquestioned.  Nevertheless  the 
Chinese  Tung  Sliih  always  exercises  the  utmost 
prudence  in  settling  any  trouble  among  the  Tibetans 
when  the  Chinese  government  acts  as  arbitrator,  or 
when  it  exerts  its  authority  or  exacts  indemnities.  My 
Mongol  friend  at  Jyekundo  assured  me  that  the  affair 
of  Dutreuil  de  Khins'  death  had  caused  the  Amban  and 
his  stewards  great  trouble,  for  the  Tibetans  thought 
they  should  not  be  compelled  to  pay  such  a  large  in- 
demnity as  was  demanded,  especially  as  it  reduced 
them  almost  to  penury.    But  the  Amban  is  supreme. 

Kansa,  or  Sze  Chuan  Kansa,  as  the  natives  frequently 
call  it  to  distinguish  it  from  the  town  Kanze  in  the 
Horba  district,  which  is  often  called  Ho  Kanze,  was  the 
destination  of  the  interpreter  who  accompanied  me. 
Being  all  well  mounted,  we  rode  quickly  along  a  fertile 
valley,  where  some  of  the  natives,  men  and  women 
alike,  were  in  the  fields  doing  harvest  work,  looking 
after  flocks  and  gathering  fuel.  That  day  I  saw  for 
the  first  time  a  Tibetan  woman  able  to  read.  My 
Mongol  friend  had  to  get  the  seal  of  a  chief  stamped 
on  my  passport  as  we  traveled,  but  instead  of  finding 
him  camped  where  he  supposedly  was,  we  found  the 
men  of  his  tribe  were  moving  his  tents  and  goods  to 
another  spot,  for  we  met  part  of  the  cavalcade  on  their 
way.  The  chief  had  gone  ahead,  but  his  wife  was 
there,  a  rosy-cheeked,  good-looking  young  woman  with 
a  profusion  of  ornaments  on  her  hair  and  hands,  and 
mounted  on  a  black  horse  with  several  men  in  attend- 


MOEE  EOBBERS  359 

ance.  The  interpreter  introduced  me  to  her,  gave  her 
the  passport  and  also  a  letter  from  the  Amban  at 
Sining,  which  had  just  arrived,  relative  to  some  tribal 
difficulties  not  far  away,  in  which  his  representatives 
were  asked  to  be  arbitrators.  She  read  them  both, 
commented  in  an  intelligent  manner  upon  them,  nodded 
good-bye  and  rode  on  to  overtake  the  remainder  of  the 
caravan,  taking  with  her  the  passport,  which  the  chief 
stamped  and  sent  back  to  us  in  the  evening.  We  spent 
the  night  in  a  miserable,  dirty  little  shanty,  minus  doors 
and  windows,  near  a  large  house  over  which  floated 
prayer-flags  galore,  and  not  far  away  was  a  small 
lamasery.  We  had  to  wait  some  time  for  tea  and  fuel, 
because  the  women  were  all  away  digging  choma,  and 
the  men  would  not  under  any  consideration  lower  their 
dignity  by  carrying  water. 

The  chief  sent  me  presents  of  tsamha  and  butter,  at 
which  the  interpreter  was  much  pleased,  for  he  said  it 
augured  well  for  my  journey  to  get  full  dishes  of  any- 
thing the  first  day.  The  women  came  home  late  in  fhe 
afternoon,  tall,  swarthy-cheeked,  and  skin-robed,  but 
kind  and  friendly  without  that  tiresome  curiosity  that 
characterizes  the  Chinese.  That  night  I  had  five  of 
them  sleeping  just  outside  the  door  of  my  room  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  custom  that  travelers  with  ula  must 
have  a  proper  guard,  but  the  interpreter  said  I  was  hon- 
ored in  having  so  many,  information  which  I  doubted  a 
little,  for  might  it  not  have  been  a  belief  that  numbers 
increase  safety  that  led  so  many  to  spend  the  night 
beside  the  foreigner?  Their  merry  voices  were  heard 
long  after  we  had  retired,  a  custom  which  we  found 


360  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

common  among  the  Tibetans,  and  finally  I  had  to  in- 
terfere, or  their  excitement  in  guarding  me  would 
have  prevented  my  slumbers.  Fear  of  them  I  had  none. 
In  the  morning  our  ula  horses  were  tardy  in  coming, 
but  at  last  we  were  started  away,  having  been  joined 
by  a  good-natured,  genial  lama,  who  was  also  to  have 
ula  because  he  was  traveling  with  letters  from  a 
buddha  which  demanded  haste,  and  he  promised  the 
interpreter  to  help  me  on  the  road  so  far  as  he  could. 
There  is  in  the  valley  through  which  we  passed  an 
oho  that  marks  the  exact  border  between  Sining  and 
Sze  Chuan  territory,  and  there  robbers  have  been 
accustomed  to  dart  out  of  the  hills  on  either  side  upon 
caravans  unfortunate  enough  not  to  be  well  guarded. 
The  approach  to  Kansa  is  through  a  narrow  valley 
through  which  courses  a  stream  lined  on  either  side 
by  evergreen-dotted  hills,  while  in  the  sequestered 
nooks  nestle  the  black  tents  of  the  sparse  inhabitants. 
The  place  itself,  which  we  reached  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  second  day,  is  a  mere  hamlet  containing  several 
mud-brick  houses,  conspicuous  among  which  were  the 
trading  depots  of  Chinese  and  Horba  merchants.  Here 
through  my  Mongol  friend  I  received  ula,  which  in 
this  instance  was  a  young  girl  who  shouldered  my 
whole  load  and  trudged  away  with  me  to  a  large  house 
some  distance  down  the  stream,  where  another  woman 
acted  as  escort.  The  lama  that  had  ula  went  ahead 
of  me  and  left  orders  at  every  stage  for  my  ula,  so 
there  was  no  delay  whatever  with  the  change.  Our 
road  lay  along  the  Dre  Chu,  quiet  and  strong,  pursu- 
ing its  course  towards  the  Yangtse  and  thence  to  the 


MORE  ROBBERS  361 

sea  at  Shanghai,  Had  I  at  last  come  upon  the  sight 
of  waters  that  made  their  way  to  the  same  Pacific 
that  washed  the  shores  of  my  native  land?  Though 
the  latter  was  still  thousands  of  miles  distant,  yet 
civilization  and  safety  began  to  feel  near,  and  I  was 
glad.  Sometimes  we  were  on  precipitous  hills  hun- 
dreds of  feet  above  the  river,  the  narrow  path  wherever 
shaded  being  covered  with  ice  in  places,  to  prevent  a 
fatal  slip  on  which  the  natives  had  scattered  ashes. 
At  other  times  our  pathway  led  us  through  glens  of 
marvelous  beauty,  where  trees,  mosses,  ferns  and  creep- 
ers united  to  make  bowers  and  castles  that  our  imagina- 
tion peopled  to  suit  itself,  while  we  quickly  wound  in 
and  out,  zig-zag,  among  high  rocks  and  boulders.  Just 
below  one  of  these  beautiful  spots  we  passed  over  part 
of  the  country  that  the  year  previous  had  been  the 
scene  of  tragedy  through  on  earthquake,  in  which  a 
large  monastery  and  several  small  hamlets  had  been 
completely  buried.  The  harm  had  been  almost  com- 
pletely confined  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  which 
had  to  a  certain  extent  made  a  new  bed  for  itself;  for 
the  whole  mountain  side  with  large  trees  and  tons 
of  earth  had,  without  warning  and  with  loud  crashes 
like  thunder,  sped  on  its  headlong  course  straight  to 
the  beautiful,  calm  river.  Hundreds  of  people  were 
killed  in  that  catastrophe,  of  which  the  natives  spoke  in 
subdued  voice  and  with  tender  pity  for  the  lives  and 
houses  that  had  been  lost.  In  the  general  demolition 
the  great  caravan  road  was  destroyed  for  miles,  and 
as  there  is  no  provision  for  the  repair  or  making  of 
roads  in  Tibetan  economy,  travelers  had  succeeded  in 


362  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

wearing  a  little  footpath  in  the  midst  of  the  upturned 
trees,  great  rocks  and  other  debris,  crowning  the 
climax  of  difficulty  by  an  almost  perpendicular  ascent 
to  the  summit  of  a  hill ;  for  the  whole  side  of  the  road 
along  the  river  had  disappeared,  leaving  no  space  for 
even  a  footpath  on  the  bank. 

The  day's  travel  was  thus  unexpectedly  difficult  and 
ula  had  been  changed  several  times.  At  dark  I 
reached  a  village  where  I  expected  to  remain  over  night, 
but  though  the  man  who  was  traveling  with  ula  was 
resting  in  one  of  the  homes  the  natives  refused  to 
allow  me  to  remain,  but  sent  me  quickly  along  the 
river  with  a  small  boy  and  girl,  saying  that  not  far 
away  there  were  some  farm  houses  where  I  could  find 
shelter.  The  moon  was  shining  just  the  same  as  she 
formerly  shone  at  Tankar,  and  the  remembrance  of  the 
tender  thought  and  care  exercised  over  me  in  those 
days  made  the  refusal  of  refuge  at  dark  all  the  more 
painful.  As  we  journeyed  on  the  girl  told  me  that 
there  were  no  houses  until  we  had  passed  the  moun- 
tain that  looked  to  be  miles  away,  so  I  risked  all  and 
returned  to  the  village  where  I  had  received  the  ula, 
the  children  guiding  me  to  the  house  where  was  the 
man  who  had  helped  me  on  from  Kansa.  Evidently 
there  was  some  unusual  antipathy  to  Europeans  there, 
for  he  quietly  told  me  not  to  say  a  word,  but  inter- 
ceded with  the  natives  to  give  me  shelter  in  the  straw 
room,  to  which  they  brought  for  my  use  a  little  fire 
in  a  shallow  earthenware  dish  and  some  tea,  while  an 
old  white-haired  man  brought  a  felt  rug  and  lay  down 
near  me  for  the  night.    The  following  day  it  was  many 


CO 

W 

< 

m 
<; 
w 

O 

< 


MORE  ROBBERS  363 

hours  before  I  reached  a  house,  the  road  was  partly 
destroyed  and  so  dangerous  as  to  necessitate  walking 
all  the  way,  and  I  realized  the  depth  to  which  the 
villagers  had  meant  to  harm  me  in  sending  me  after 
dark  along  that  mountain,  for  nearly  the  whole  night 
would  have  been  spent  before  reaching  the  other  side 
in  safety,  if  I  could  have  accomplished  it  at  all.  The 
first  house  we  sighted  was  the  home  of  the  ferryman, 
and  was  built  on  a  perpendicular  bluff  in  a  sheltered 
corner  where  the  Drushi  Chu  winds  on  its  way  to  the 
Dre  Chu.  We  had  come  into  the  region  of  boats  and 
bridges  which  to  us  were  welcome  heralds  of  greater 
facilities  of  transit  than  are  found  in  the  interior. 
The  ferry  consisted  of  a  coracle  shaped  like  a  tub, 
about  five  feet  in  diameter,  composed  of  a  flimsy  frame- 
work over  which  were  drawn  yak  hides,  and  manip- 
ulated by  a  Tibetan  with  a  broad,  straight  paddle.  A 
large  pile  of  tea,  done  up  in  raw  hides,  was  waiting 
for  yak  to  come  and  carry  it  to  Kansa,  while  some  men 
and  sheep  were  being  ferried  over  the  river  in  a  second 
coracle.  My  friend  was  busy  making  his  terms  with 
the  ferryman  when  I  arrived,  and  upon  reading  my 
passport  the  latter  refused  to  carry  me  across  because 
there  were  no  houses  in  the  vicinity  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  hence  no  ula,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  take 
any  responsibility  concerning  me.  He  accordingly 
sent  me  up  to  his  home  on  the  bluff,  where  I  remained 
for  two  days,  while  he  found  out  what  course  to  pursue 
with  regard  to  taking  me  across  the  river.  A  little 
bird  with  a  red  breast  made  itself  at  home  chirping 
fearlessly  about  the   straw  on  the  veranda  where   I 


364  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

slept,  but  it  was  the  only  friend  that  made  overtures, 
for  the  women  were  busy,  and  except  for  occasional 
visits  to  bring  me  delicious  tea,  they  remained  in  their 
own  apartments.  After  that  brief  rest  I  departed  with 
ula  which  was  changed  at  a  well-to-do  farmer's  house, 
where  were  several  lamas  and  good-looking  women,  who 
all  treated  me  with  profound  respect  upon  the  perusal 
of  my  passport,  and  after  having  given  me  tea  and 
tsamba,  one  of  the  latter  set  out  with  me  for  the  chief's 
home. 

Following  the  Dre  Chu  we  reached  the  village  where 
lived  the  ponho,  who  alone  had  authority  to  give  me 
ula  for  the  other  side  of  the  river.  He  was  building  a 
new  house,  and  an  army  of  workers,  singing  as  they 
toiled,  were  busy  carrying  the  sand  for  the  walls  and 
roof.  There  I  had  to  pay  a  small  toll  for  my  pass 
across  the  river,  and  order  for  ula  on  the  other  side. 
The  next  morning  with  an  old  nun  I  made  my  way 
down  to  the  ferry  on  which  some  lamas  were  being 
taken  over  with  several  loads  of  baggage,  among  which 
were  some  beautiful  cushions  and  rugs  such  as  we  had 
seen  in  Kumbum.  I  entered  the  boat  with  the  priest, 
to  do  which  we  had  to  remove  our  boots  and  step  into 
water  over  our  knees;  moreover,  I  was  not  permitted 
to  wear  my  hat  during  the  crossing,  probably  from 
some  superstition  regarding  it.  Having  been  paddled 
out  to  the  center  of  the  river  the  frail  structure  was 
caught  by  the  current,  wafted  to  the  other  shore,  and 
was  then  carried  on  the  ferryman's  back  a  certain  dis- 
tance up  the  stream  to  balance  that  which  the  current 
had  wafted  it  down.     The  passengers  had  paid  their 


MOEE  ROBBERS  365 

fares  by  means  of  butter,  churma  and  tea,  which  the 
boatman's  family  quarreled  over  while  I  sat  waiting 
for  my  ula,  which  presently  arrived  in  the  unexpected 
form  of  a  donkey,  an  animal  which  is  in  common  use 
in  that  part  of  Tibet. 

I  was  now  fairly  started  on  my  journey  with  ula 
along  the  north  of  the  Dre  Chu  towards  Ta-chien-lu, 
and  the  days  sped  on,  one  almost  the  counterpart  of 
another.  The  nomads  and  villagers  were  exceedingly 
friendly,  and,  though  I  was  never  permitted  to  enter 
their  homes,  they  gave  me  a  corner  on  a  veranda  or  in 
a  straw  room,  and  adequately  made  up  for  their  ap- 
parent inhospitality  by  supplying  me  with  an  abund- 
ance of  tea  and  some  coals  in  a  shallow  dish  to  keep 
it  warm,  all  of  which  came  through  the  influence  of  my 
passports.  But  if  ula  is  good  for  one's  purse  and  in- 
creases one's  safety,  it  is  more  than  trying  to  one's 
patience,  for  the  Tibetans,  having  no  idea  of  time,  are 
in  the  habit  of  starting  in  the  morning  on  a  Journey- 
When  I  reached  their  homes  at  mid-day  they  made  all 
sorts  of  excuses  to  have  me  stay  till  the  following 
morning.  Though  sometimes  my  ula  was  changed  as 
frequently  as  .  three  or  four  times  in  a  day,  some- 
times just  as  often,  when  I  had  only  been  on  the  road 
two  or  three  hours,  my  escort  placed  me  in  the  hands 
of  others  at  a  tent  or  house  and  returned  to  their  own 
homes.  Though  I  used  all  my  powers  of  persuasion  it 
was  impossible  to  move  the  imperturbable  calmness  of 
the  natives,  who  said  there  could  be  no  ula  until  the 
day  following,  and  so  I  had  to  be  content  to  spend  the 
largest  part  of  the  day,  when  I  should  have  been  travel- 


366  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ing,  in  waiting,  waiting.  My  food  consisted  only  of 
butter,  tsamba  and  tea,  and  my  strength  was  fast  wan- 
ing, so  much  so  that  I  felt  a  little  more  speed  was 
imperative  if  I  were  ever  to  reach  Ta-chien-lu  alive. 
The  province  through  which  I  was  traveling  was 
Derge,  the  wealthiest  and  most  fertile  of  Eastern  Tibet, 
for  there  the  natives  are  skilled  in  metal  work,  and  the 
seals,  bells,  teapots  and  other  articles  manufactured  by 
them  find  a  ready  sale  and  command  high  prices.  They 
are  almost  independent  of  either  China  or  Lhasa,  and 
have  a  particular  antipathy  to  the  Chinese,  who  find 
residence  in  the  province  almost  impossible,  in  fact 
the  Imperial  government  has  had  difficulty  in  keeping 
peace  in  that  part  of  its  dominion.  A  Tibetan  official 
from  Lhasa  was  on  his  way  through  the  province  at 
the  same  time  as  I  was  myself,  and  it  was  rather  sig- 
nificant to  see  the  natives  keep  away  from  the  high- 
ways to  avoid  falling  in  with  his  retinue,  for  the  sol- 
diers with  him  would  demand  everything  they  could 
see,  even  the  very  swords  and  horses  they  used  on  the 
road.  Thus  authority  was  repudiated.  My  ula  people 
were  most  frequently  women,  but  occasionally  a  whole 
group  of  young  boys  and  girls  came  along  with  me, 
taking  the  very  best  care  of  me,  and  returning  to  their 
homes  with  other  ideas  of  foreigners  than  they  had 
previously  had.  Some  of  the  official  rest-houses  along 
the  road  had  no  people  living  in  them,  and,  as  a  rule, 
my  escort  took  me  to  inhabited  homes,  where  the  little 
children  and  the  women  shed  some  pleasure  into  my 
lonely  heart.  Occasionally  I  had  a  little  difficulty  with 
my  escort,  and  where  this  was  so,  as  a  rule,  the  people 


MOEE  ROBBEES  367 

where  I  stopped  were  not  overly  kind.  Two  young 
boys,  one  of  whom  was  a  lama,  resented  traveling  with 
me,  and  everyone  we  met  at  first  was  stopped  and  told 
slurring  things  about  the  foreigner;  but  when  I 
asserted  my  authority  and  compelled  them  to  go 
straight  past  all  travelers  on  the  road,  they  were  very 
angry,  but  dared  not  object.  That  night  I  had  a 
nicely  painted  room  with  a  raised  bed  to  sleep  on,  and 
some  of  the  women  begged  several  of  the  buttons  off 
my  gown  in  exchange  for  butter.  The  following  day 
the  same  boy  traveled  with  me  from  early  morning 
until  dusk,  for  all  people  on  the  road  refused  to  accept 
the  responsibility  for  ula,  and  though  he  did  not  wish 
to  travel  so  far,  I  did  not  dare  allow  him  to  return. 
Without  stopping  even  for  tea  by  the  roadside,  we  passed 
on  through  pretty  glens  and  valleys,  past  villages  and 
lamaseries  to  Gosa  Gomba,  a  large  monastery  with 
prayer-wheels  around  the  outside,  where  he  placed  me 
in  a  large  house  in  the  hands  of  an  old  man,  gimhi,  a 
name  given  to  the  one  who  manages  ula  in  a  place. 
There  lived  the  chief  of  a  new  district,  to  whom  the 
gimhi  submitted  my  passports.  I  remained  there  two 
days,  and  was  glad  to  escape,  for  there  was  great  diffi- 
culty in  restraining  the  lamas,  particularly  the  younger 
ones,  who  came  in  crowds  up  the  stairway  and  threat- 
ened to  push  curiosity  and  impudence  into  violence, 
a  danger  that  was  averted  by  the  gimhi  and  several 
old  nuns  who  lived  with  some  of  their  children  in  the 
rooms  not  far  from  me. 

The  morning  I  left  Gosa  Gomba  was  beautiful,  the 
sun  shining  brightly  on  the  frosty  grass,  and  playing 


368  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

upon  the  gilded  turrets,  tiled  roofs,  and  painted  walls 
and  prayer-wheels  about  the  monastery.  Eustic  bridges 
spanning  the  streams,  where  were  clustered  the  homes 
of  farmers,  on  which  prayer-flags  were  waving  in  the 
breeze,  added  an  unwonted  charm  that  was  enhanced 
by  the  long  piles  of  white  mani  stones,  the  stacks  of 
straw  and  the  flocks  of  goats  and  sheep  making  their 
honeycomb  paths  all  over  the  hillsides.  A  lama  rode 
beside  me  for  a  space,  with  drum  and  bell  on  his  back, 
on  his  way  to  some  village  to  chant  prayers  and  "  beat 
the  drum."  Soon  my  escort  led  me  past  an  immense 
chorten  at  the  junction  of  four  valleys,  to  a  large  farm 
house  perched  high  on  a  hill  whence  no  persuasive  pow- 
ers of  mine  could  procure  a  continuance  of  my  journey 
that  day.  Imagine  my  feelings  when,  in  conversation 
with  some  women,  I  learned  that  the  gimhi  had  sent  me 
along  a  little  footpath  instead  of  on  the  big  caravan 
road,  and  that  by  pursuing  this  path  I  would  be 
months  in  reaching  the  Chinese  border!  My  strength 
was  waning  and,  fearing  it  would  prove  insufficient  for 
such  a  long  journey,  I  went  with  my  ula  the  following 
morning  back  to  the  gimhij  who  was  absent  when  I 
arrived.  While  I  awaited  his  return  a  young  lama 
amused  a  crowd  who  stood  about  us  by  ridiculing  for- 
eigners, especially  myself,  even  molding  tsamha  into 
obscene  forms  that  I  refused  to  notice,  and  I  was 
thankful  when  I  saw  the  gimbi  appear,  though  he  was 
surprised  to  see  me.  Having  ordered  straw  for  my 
horse  and  tea  for  myself,  he  listened  patiently  while  I 
told  him  my  reasons  for  returning  to  Gosa,  and  showed 
him  the  map,  pointing  out  to  him  several  places  on  the 


MOEE  ROBBERS  369 

large  caravan  road  that  I  wished  to  pursue.  I 
refused  to  go  the  small  road,  where  I  was  entirely  de- 
pendent on  the  people,  who  could  send  me  wherever 
they  wished,  as  I  would  not  know  where  I  was.  He 
insisted  that  he  could  not  give  me  ula  on  the  big  road, 
but  I  was  equally  insistent  upon  going  that  road ;  so, 
towards  afternoon,  afraid  on  account  of  the  turbulent 
lamas,  as  corrupt  men  as  I  had  ever  seen,  to  allow  me 
to  remain  over  night,  he  started  me  off  to  a  little  vil- 
lage on  the  big  road  and  the  escort  took  me  to  his 
own  home.  Here  men  were  threshing  barley  in  the 
courtyard,  two  on  each  side  with  their  flails,  who 
alternately  sang  Om  mani  padme  hum  as  they  raised 
and  let  fall  the  old-fashioned  threshing  instrument. 
It  was  a  pretty  harvest  scene,  which  the  children  en- 
joyed as  much  as  I  did,  as  I  sat  in  my  quarters  under 
a  veranda  in  one  corner  of  the  courtyard,  deciding 
to  wait  for  one  of  my  escort's  relatives  whose  home 
was  in  Kanze  in  the  Horba  district,  and  to  which  place 
he  would  go  with  me  in  order  to  manage  my  ula  more 
quickly  than  I  could  myself.  That  same  day  a  dark- 
faced,  strong  Chinaman  walked  into  the  courtyard  to 
hire  oxen  to  travel  with  him  and  his  companions  over 
the  pass  to  Zochen  Gomba.  I  called  him  to  me  and,  after 
some  conversation,  he  brought  his  father,  uncle  and 
their  apprentices,  all  journeymen-smiths  on  their  way 
from  Jyekundo  to  Tai-lin,  three  days'  journey  from 
Ta-chien-lu.  They  had  spent  the  summer  in  Tibet,  but 
were  going  to  China  for  the  cold  winter  months.  The 
old  man  was  kind  and  full  of  sympathy,  and  was  in- 
clined to  acquiesce  in  my  desire  for  one  of  them  to 


370  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

travel  with  me,  but,  owing  to  the  fear  of  robbers,  con- 
cluded we  had  better  remain  together  until  we  had 
passed  the  dangerous  places,  and  in  the  meanwhile 
they  would  help  me  manage  my  ula. 

One  whole  day  and  part  of  another  day's  traveling 
together  brought  us  to  an  encampment  of  fifty  tents 
where  a  local  chief  lived,  and  where  my  ula  was  to 
be  changed  while  my  Chinese  friends  went  on  to 
Zochen  Gomba.  The  unexpected  happened  just  then, 
for  the  chief  said  unless  I  went  three  days'  journey 
away  to  get  the  seal  of  the  Derge  official  stamped  on 
my  passport  he  had  no  power  to  give  me  ula,  and, 
notwithstanding  bluff  attempts  and  gentle  persuasion, 
I  found  that  my  passport  was  of  no  value  there.  Feel- 
ing that  the  Chinese  smiths  were  ready  to  help  me,  I 
abandoned  all  hopes  of  ula,  knowing  that  speed  would 
more  than  compensate  me  for  the  loss  of  my  official 
escort,  and  made  my  way  to  the  house  where  the 
Chinese  had  quarters  on  a  veranda,  a  corner  of  which 
they  yielded  to  me  for  my  occupation.  This  house 
was  one  of  a  cluster  of  stone  and  log  structures,  the 
homes  of  some  Chinese  and  natives,  built  on  a  small 
stream  by  which  several  prayer-wheels  in  little  wooden 
houses  along  its  course  were  revolved.  High  up 
almost  perpendicular  paths  is  the  lamasery  of  Zochen 
Gomba,  where  reside  over  two  thousand  lamas.  The 
landlady  slept  out  on  the  veranda,  accompanied  by  her 
young  son,  a  lama,  who  insisted  upon  his  mother  sing- 
ing many  songs,  entertaining  us  with  sweet,  weird 
music  away  into  the  night,  as  well  as  giving  her  son 
pleasure,  that,  on  account  of  his  life  as  a  lama  he 


MOEE  EOBBERS  371 

could  very  rarely  have.  Everything  was  now  changed 
for  me,  and  the  Chinese  vied  with  one  another  in  try- 
ing to  make  me  comfortable.  This  to  me  was  proof 
that  the  loving  Father  was  caring  for  His  lonely  little 
child  that  the  very  day  that  my  passport  was  refused 
recognition,  two  Chinamen  had  agreed  to  travel  with 
me  down  to  Ta-chien-lu.  This  would  reduce  not  only 
my  danger,  for  those  smiths  had  been  years  in  the 
country,  and  I  had  implicit  confidence  in  the  Chinese, 
but  would  also  reduce  the  length  of  my  journey  per- 
haps by  a  month. 

The  weather  was  extremely  cold,  and  several  nights 
we  had  to  sleep  outdoors.  One  night  I  had  my  feet 
frost-bitten,  and  as  a  result  I  suffered  for  nearly  a 
year.  The  men  were  carrying  all  their  tools,  bedding, 
etc.,  on  their  back,  and,  as  we  journeyed  in  company 
with  a  large  party  of  traders  across  a  high  mountain 
pass  which  is  infested  with  robbers,  the  two  who  were 
to  go  ahead  with  me  shouldered  my  goods,  though  we 
all  remained  together  until  we  reached  Eong  batsa, 
where  my  six  men  regaled  themselves  freely  with  wine, 
filling  my  heart  with  terror,  as  they  and  the  Tibetans 
in  the  house  became  very  drunk.  Before  the  carousal 
my  Chinamen  had  securely  fastened  their  money  in 
scarfs  about  their  necks,  and  the  landlady,  as  each  one 
became  overpowered  by  the  liquor,  gave  them  their 
sleeping  places,,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  fear. 

In  that  locality  we  crossed  the  Za  Chu  and  followed 
our  way  straight  across  the  country  through  villages, 
meeting  on  the  way  thousands  of  yak,  loaded  with  tea, 
and  passing  some  carrying  hides  and  other  articles  of 


372  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

trade  on  their  way  to  Ta-chien-dao,  as  the  natives  there 
called  Ta-chien-lu.  The  men  were  well  dressed,  and 
their  horses  were  decorated  with  bright,  gay  trappings. 
We  met  frequently  processions  of  lamas,  one  of  whom, 
dressed  in  yellow  satin  with  yellow  hat  and  having  a 
large  retinue,  betrayed  his  rank  of  "  living  buddha." 
The  country  was  dotted  with  villages  and  small 
lamaseries,  and  cultivated  fields  worked  by  primitive 
wooden  plows  in  the  hands  of  men  and  women,  at- 
tested the  industry  of  the  people.  On  top  of  the  pro- 
montory or  steep  hill  jutting  out  into  a  bend  of  the 
Za  Chu  was  seen  the  beautiful  gilded  roof  of  the  Nyara 
Gomba,  and  a  little  further  on,  beyond  some  deep  cuts 
in  the  road,  is  Kanze,  a  large  place  composed  of  the 
homes  of  laymen,  and  a  large  lamasery,  Kanzego,  with 
a  beautiful  Chinese  temple.  Here  W.  W.  Eockhill  had 
met  with  trouble  from  the  turbulency  of  the  lamas, 
and  my  guides  led  me  straight  past  the  place,  for  they 
said  there  were  such  strained  relations  between  Tibe- 
tans and  Chinese  that  the  latter  were  almost  en  masse 
compelled  to  withdraw.  This  place  is  one  of  the  larg- 
est in  the  Horba  states,  which  are  next  in  wealth  and 
size  to  Derge,  in  Eastern  Tibet.  Notwithstanding  the 
antagonism  of  the  natives  to  Chinese  and  foreigners, 
they  were  very  interesting,  and  withal  even  charming. 
They  were  better  looking  and  as  a  rule  better  dressed 
than  natives  in  other  parts,  wearing  a  profusion  of 
ornaments  in  silver  and  gold.  The  men  are  dressed  in 
pulu,  or  colored  drilling,  have  their  hair  mainly  done 
in  a  great  queue  which  they  adorn  with  bright  rings 
and  twist  about  their  heads.    The  breach  of  their  gun 


MORE  ROBBERS  373 

and  the  sheath  of  their  sword  are  decorated  with  sil- 
ver, coral  and  green  stones.  The  women  often  wear  a 
large  disc  of  silver  on  their  forehead  and  sometimes  on 
the  back  of  their  head,  and  both  sexes  carry  from  their 
girdles  silver  needle  cases,  flint  and  steel  boxes  and 
occasionally  an  embroidered  cloth  case  for  their  tsaniha 
bowl.  They  are  exceedingly  hostile  to  the  Chinese, 
who  have  never  until  late  years  been  allowed  to  live 
even  in  comparative  peace  among  them,  and  though 
Chinese  officials  are  stationed  at  Kanze,  Chang-ko  and 
Dawo,  they  have  practically  little  power,  and  for  their 
cowardice  are  despised  by  the  Tibetans,  who  disdain- 
fully hold  up  the  little  finger,  which  designates  the 
height  of  inferiority,  and  say  that  the  Chinese  official 
at  Dawo  is  afraid  even  to  step  outside  of  his  own  door 
for  fear  of  a  dog. 

The  first  town  of  importance  we  reached  after  pass- 
ing Kanze  was  Chango,  which  is  built  on  a  steep  slope 
overlooking  the  Nya  Chu,  while  on  the  hills  above  lies 
the  Chango  Gomba,  inhabited  by  over  two  thousand 
lamas  who  enjoy  the  reputation  of  being  desperately 
unruly  and  bad.  On  account  of  the  prediliction  of 
these  lamas  to  quarrel,  my  guides  led  me  around  this 
place,  after  having  stopped  at  a  small  lamasery  to 
buy  some  extra  tea,  because  tea  leaves  are  so  highly 
prized  by  the  natives  in  this  locality,  that  most  travel- 
ers use  them  instead  of  money  to  pay  for  fodder  and 
lodging,  as  you  can  obtain  more  for  a  little  tea  than  for 
ten  times  its  value  in  silver.  Shortly  after  leaving 
Chango  we  saw  on  the  road  several  drunken  Tibetans, 
who  were  extorting  money  from  some  poor  travelers, 


374  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

whose  valuable  large  dog  the  former  had  in  their  pos- 
session. They  were  six  of  a  body  of  fifty  soldiers  who 
had  been  summoned  to  compel  the  natives  of  Chango 
to  pay  their  taxes,  and  had  that  morning  been  dis- 
banded, but  before  leaving  the  town  they  had  imbibed 
too  freely,  and  as  a  result  were  an  unspeakable  terror 
to  all  travelers  who  fell  into  their  clutches.  My  guides 
congratulated  themselves  upon  having  thus  easily  es- 
caped them,  but  their  gladness  was  premature,  for  while 
we  sat  in  front  of  a  rude  farm-house  we  saw  them 
passing  along  the  road,  and  when  we  were  again  on 
the  way  we  saw  them  sitting  in  a  little  grassy  spot, 
drinking  more  wine  while  their  ponies  rested  on  the 
grass.  Soon  afterwards,  looking  back,  I  saw  them 
galloping  toward  us,  and  a  great  fear  possessed  me, 
for  Tibetans  are  very  quarrelsome  when  they  are 
drunk,  and  woe  betide  the  poor  traveler  who  is  unfor- 
tunate enough  to  fall  into  their  hands!  The  older 
one  of  my  guides  said  he  would  drop  behind,  and  if 
we  should  be  attacked  one  of  us  might  have  a  chance 
to  escape.  Presently  they  reached  us,  and  while  four 
of  them  stopped  to  see  what  the  one  boy  had,  the  other 
two  rode  up  opposite  to  myself  and  the  second  boy, 
and,  halting,  one  of  them  said,  "  choh  kana  du  ? " 
(where  are  you  going?).  The  boy  answered  that  we 
were  just  going  over  yonder,  which  was  a  polite  an- 
swer, but  it  seemed  to  incense  the  man,  for,  grinding 
his  teeth  in  rage,  he  drew  from  its  sheath  his  sword 
and  made  for  the  boy.  His  companion,  who  was  not 
so  intoxicated,  endeavored  to  restrain  him,  but  in  a 
moment  the  six  of  them  were  beside  us,  and  one  of 


MOEE  EOBBERS  375 

them  caught  me  roughly  by  the  arm  and  tried  to  pull 
me  off  my  horse,  asking  me  where  I  was  going.  In  a 
moment  all  six  dismounted,  and  while  some  of  them 
dragged  my  boy  by  the  queue  this  way  and  that,  others 
opened  up  his  load,  scattering  e\erything  about  the 
ground.  My  revolver  was  worse  than  useless,  for  they 
all  were  heavily  armed,  and  to  have  incensed  them 
meant  that  my  life  would  have  been  taken  sooner  or 
later  as  a  result.  Anxiously  I  sat  in  my  saddle,  know- 
ing that  just  as  soon  as  they  were  through  with  the 
boy  they  would  turn  their  attention  to  me.  One  of 
them,  who  was  more  sober  than  the  others,  motioned 
to  me  with  his  chin  to  go  towards  the  other  boy,  and 
I  turned  my  horse  and  followed  his  advice,  but  my 
safety  was  short-lived,  for  one  of  the  Tibetans  re- 
mounted and  came  up  in  a  moment  behind  me.  I  rode 
astride,  as  all  Tibetan  women  do,  and  as  he  rode  along 
beside  me  his  knee  brushed  against  mine,  and,  taking 
his  sword  from  its  scabbard,  he  held  the  naked  blade 
over  me,  bidding  me  dismount  and  give  him  my  horse. 
I  looked  into  his  face,  that  was  very  near  to  me,  saw 
his  eyes  glassy  from  alcohol,  realized  that  he  was 
scarcely  responsible  for  his  actions,  and  my  heart  was 
convulsed.  As  a  child  would  call  his  father,  I  called 
aloud,  '^Oh  God!  Oh  God!"  and  in  Tibetan  said, 
" Mari,  mari"  which  means  "no,  no."  A  strange  ex- 
pression crossed  the  man's  face,  and  he  put  his  sword 
away,  turned  and  joined  his  companions,  and  in  a 
moment  all  had  galloped  down  the  river,  and  not  only 
was  my  life  spared,  but  I  had  not  lost  anything; 
whereas  had  I  been  compelled  to  dismount  my  horse 


376  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

and  my  bedding  would  have  been  taken,  for  the  latter 
was  on  my  saddle.  Quite  unexpectedly,  too,  my  Tibetan 
gown  and  pot  were  not  lost,  for  they  were  in  the  load 
of  the  boy  who  sat  on  the  roadside,  while  the  other 
one's  load  had  been  thrown  about  and  only  the  tea 
leaves  taken,  but  he  himself  lost  a  valuable  sword,  his 
tsamha  basin  and  purse,  containing  thirty  rupees. 

As  we  sat  on  the  grass  I  was  almost  overpowered 
with  thankfulness  and  joy  that  my  life  and  the  things 
needful  had  thus  been  saved,  nor  can  I  doubt  that  my 
deliverance  was  due  to  the  care  of  the  Heavenly  Father, 
who  neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

SAFE   AT    LAST 

The  Approach  to  Ta-chien-lu — My  Pony  Becomes  Ex- 
hausted— Long  Marches  with  Blistered  Feet — 
Chinese  Conception  of  Europeans — Among  Friends 
Once  More — Conclusion. 

With  the  disappearance  down  the  river  of  the 
brightly  accoutred  horses  and  their  riders  came  a  great 
perplexity,  for  my  boys  had  a  desire  to  follow  them 
and  endeavor  to  regain  some  of  their  lost  property. 
In  the  drunken,  unaccountable  condition  of  the  Tibe- 
tans such  a  course  could  only  have  been  attended  by 
more  calamity.  Feeling  the  force  of  this  they  desired 
to  return  to  Chango  and  accuse  the  guilty  ones  before 
the  magistrates;  but,  upon  remembering  that  the  men 
were  unknown  to  them,  and  also  that  it  would  necessi- 
tate great  delay  in  reaching  Ta-chien-lu,  and  not  hav- 
ing enough  money  to  reimburse  their  loss,  I  told  them 
I  was  willing  to  return  to  Chango  with  them — they 
would  still,  however,  have  to  accompany  me  to  the 
border,  according  to  agreement,  as  the  money  had  al- 
ready been  paid  to  their  father.  They  appreciated  my 
offer,  and  also  the  necessity  of  fulfilling  their  father's 
agreement  with  me,  and  upon  receiving  my  promise 

377 


378  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

to  supply  them  with  food  for  the  journey,  they  de- 
cided to  push  on  to  Ta-chien-lu. 

With  characteristically  national  desire  to  avoid 
meddling  in  other  people's  affairs,  a  Tibetan,  whose 
house  was  near  us  though  hidden  by  a  hillock  from 
view,  came  up  after  the  fracas,  and  offered  us  the  hospi- 
tality of  his  home.  This  we  gladly  accepted,  as  I  felt 
it  was  better  not  to  risk  meeting  those  men  again  until 
the  effects  of  the  liquor  had  worn  away,  as  well  as  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  quite 
time  to  rest. 

The  scenery  along  the  road  down  the  river  for  sev- 
eral miles  from  Chango  is  beautifully  refreshing,  the 
country  being  very  fertile  and  dotted  with  hamlets; 
then,  as  the  river  bends  southward,  our  way  diverged, 
to  return  again  to  pursue  its  course  through  mag- 
nificent forests  of  large  timber  on  the  sides  of  moun- 
tains towering  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see  above  us. 
Another  day's  journey  brought  us  to  Dawo,  with  its 
large  lamasery,  the  Mnchung  Gomba,  with  gilded 
roofs  and  its  secular  part  with  two-storied  houses  built 
on  either  side  of  a  stream,  over  which  are  a  number 
of  gristmills.  The  lamas  are  about  one  thousand  in 
number,  and  the  population  of  the  town  is  nearly  as 
many  more,  of  which  over  10  per  cent,  are  Chinese, 
some  of  them  being  workers  in  metal.  Houses  dot  the 
valley  to  its  close  below  Dawo,  and  to  avoid  intricacies 
that  might  prove  bewildering  if  not  dangerous,  the 
older  boy  and  myself  went  past  the  town  to  a  farmer's 
house  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  while  the  other  went  up 
into  the  town  to  buy  tea.    He  brought  us,  on  his  return, 


SAFE  AT  LAST  379 

some  bread,  which  was  to  us  a  delicacy  of  delicacies, 
though  it  had  no  leaven  of  any  kind,  for  the  staff  of 
life  had  been  absent  from  even  the  sight  of  our  eyes 
for  months.  In  almost  every  village  there  were  Chinese, 
most  of  whom  have  become  almost  naturalized  Tibetans 
in  clothing,  customs  and  even  religion,  murmuring  the 
mystic  six-syllabled  prayer  quite  as  faithfully  as  the 
natives  themselves.  On  the  road  a  large  proportion  of 
the  travelers  whom  we  met  were  also  Chinese,  among 
whom  were  even  the  indefatigable  beggars,  who  ap- 
parently would  have  been  much  wiser  to  have  remained 
in  their  own  country;  they  were  in  all  probability 
exiles  on  account  of  some  crime,  though  many  of  them 
were  very  young.  All  these  Celestials  made  us  realize 
that  we  were  every  day  getting  nearer  to  Ta-chien-lu, 
and  as  my  physical  strength  waned  my  heart  grew  more 
buoyant  at  the  probability  of  our  reaching  the  longed- 
for  goal. 

Signs  of  earthquakes  are  not  wanting  in  the  valley, 
almost  every  house  being  in  ruins,  only  parts  of  the 
stone  walls  standing.  We  passed  the  corner  of  the 
hill  near  Tai-lin,  having  pursued  the  road  which 
leads  over  the  Jeto  pass,  as  it  was  better  and  shorter 
than  the  one  through  Tai-lin,  which  place  is  largely 
Chinese.  The  second  day  before  reaching  Ta-chien-lu 
just  after  we  had  started  from  one  of  two  houses  where 
we  had  spent  the  night  in  a  corner  of  a  courtyard,  I 
was  compelled  to  walk  as  my  horse  became  unfit  to 
carry  me,  and  soon  so  slow  in  his  gait  that  he  himself 
was  a  burden.  After  having  walked  some  distance  on 
my  already  sore  feet,  whose  only  protection  was  a  pair 


380  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

of  Tibetan  boots,  with  simply  one  layer  of  untanned 
leather  for  the  sole,  we  rested  amidst  the  snow  that 
covered  the  ground  thickly,  to  boil  some  tea  for  our 
pony;  for  the  natives  give  their  horses  liquid  tea,  tea 
leaves,  tsamha,  churma  and  at  times  raw  meat  to  in- 
crease their  strength  and  render  them  able  to  pursue 
their  journey.  Sitting  on  some  stones  waiting  while 
the  horse  devoured  from  our  pot  his  stimulating  meal, 
we  felt  the  small,  rumbling  shock  of  an  earthquake. 
A  great  wave  of  disappointment  swept  over  me  as  I 
thought  of  the  possibility  of  being  buried  by  a  land- 
slide and  not  realizing  after  all,  the  recently  born 
hopes  of  refuge  and  safety  in  the  great  border  town. 

The  stage  that  day  was  a  long  one,  and  I  walked 
thirty  miles  just  as  quickly  as  I  could  with  my  spent 
strength  and  blistered  feet,  for  the  soles  of  my  boots 
had  worn  through  in  places.  The  guides  urged  me 
on,  for  we  could  find  no  shelter  until  we  were  beyond 
the  Jeto  pass,  which  is  about  fourteen  thousand  feet 
in  height.  Wearily  we  climbed  and  climbed,  the  ascent 
being  at  first  gradual,  one  dragging  the  old  horse  while 
another  urged  him  on  with  my  little  whip.  It  wrung 
my  heart  to  see  the  faithful,  patient  brute  goaded  like 
that,  but  unless  we  abandoned  him  on  the  road  there 
was  no  help  for  it.  I  would  fain  care  for  the  noble 
animal  that  had  carried  me  without  a  falter  or 
stumble,  far  from  the  regions  of  trouble  and  disaster. 
Nearing  the  summit  of  the  Jeto  pass,  we  saw  the  road 
to  Lit'ang,  winding  past  hamlets  through  a  beautiful 
valley.  The  last  part  of  the  ascent  was  very  steep  and 
difficult.     We  found  the  top  crowned  with  a  huge  oho. 


SAFE  AT  LAST  381 

and  if  natives  thank  the  spirits  joyfully  for  aid  in 
climbing  I  rendered  sincere  praise  to  my  Father  that, 
though  weary  to  almost  an  extreme,  my  strength  had 
not  faltered,  and  I  was  beyond  the  most  laborious 
stage  of  the  ascent.  It  had  begun  to  snow  heavily  and 
darkness  settled  down  upon  us,  but  the  ground 
on  either  side  was  so  rough  that  there  was  no  place 
where  we  might  lie  down  to  rest;  for  stones,  large  and 
numerous,  dotted  either  side  of  the  road,  while  a  rocky 
stream  and  a  dense  growth  of  large  underbrush  added 
to  the  difficulty  of  choosing  a  suitable  camping  place. 
Here  and  there  we  saw  campfires  near  which  were 
tethered  large  droves  of  yak,  whose  presence  was  be- 
trayed by  their  black  forms  on  the  white  background  of 
snow.  Feeling  the  extent  to  which  the  horse  delayed 
us,  two  of  us  went  more  quickly  on  ahead,  leaving  one 
of  the  guides  to  drag  along  the  poor  animal,  which 
had  just  as  much  difficulty  on  the  stony  road  as  my- 
self. Presently  we  reached  a  little  shanty  a  few  feet 
square,  in  the  center  of  a  yard  enclosed  by  a  low  stone 
fence,  behind  which  we  saw  a  large  number  of  sad- 
dled yak.  My  guide  asked  for  shelter  during  the  night 
— it  was  denied  us  for  want  of  space,  but,  after  pass- 
ing on,  we  decided  to  return  and  ask  again,  for  the 
road  was  dangerous,  being  simply  a  running  stream 
over  rough  and  uneven  stones.  The  boy  told  me  to 
walk  straight  into  the  shanty  because  I  was  so  well 
dressed  that  I  would  have  more  influence  than  he,  who 
was  just  a  shabby  peh-tsL  Making  my  way  through 
a  gap  in  the  fence  to  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the 
shanty,  Avhich  was  only  three  feet  in  height,  I  stooped 


882  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

low  and  entered,  calling  out  ta-Tco.  A  Chinaman, 
poorly  dressed  and  dirty  as  a  Tibetan,  stepped  up,  and 
I  told  him  that  we  were  going  to  spend  the  night  in 
the  shanty,  for  our  horse  was  tired  out  and  unable  to 
proceed  any  further.  He  objected  on  the  score  that 
the  shanty  was  too  small  for  any  more  occupants. 
When  I  said  he  was  a  good,  kind  man,  that  I  was  thor- 
oughly tired  out,  that  I  had  Walked  thirty  miles  that 
day  and  my  feet  were  too  sore  to  go  another  step,  he 
invited  us  to  be  seated  beside  a  huge  blazing  fire  in 
the  far  corner;  for  he  knew  that  did  he  not  allow  us 
to  remain  until  morning  we  would  still  have  to  walk 
several  miles  through  the  slush  and  snow.  I  have,  as 
a  general  rule,  found  the  Chinese  kind-hearted,  and 
inclined  to  help  those  in  distress.  The  little  shanty 
was  only  a  few  feet  square.  The  "  entrance,"  devoid 
of  a  door,  took  up  one  side  of  it,  being  supplemented 
by  a  pigsty,  where  wallowed  an  immense  hog.  In 
the  other  side  was  the  rude  fireplace,  just  a  hollow  in 
the  ground,  and  having  on  either  side  of  it  barely 
room  enough  to  crouch  down  to  rest. 

Our  feet  were  soaking,  and  while  a  half  dozen 
Tibetans  drank  their  tea  and  watched  us  furtively,  we 
three  endeavored  to  get  dried,  while  the  two  Chinese 
lumbermen  told  us  all  about  the  different  foreigners 
who  were  living  at  Ta-chien-lu.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  there  are  Boxer  riots  in  China  instigated  for  the 
purpose  of  driving  from  their  empire  the  foreigners, 
whom  they  believe  capable  of  such  atrocities  as  those 
men  ascribed  to  our  countrymen  in  the  border  town. 
We    had    heard   before    leaving   Tankar   that    several 


SAFE  AT  LAST  383 

members  of  Miss  Annie  R.  Taylor's  Tibetan  Mission 
Band,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Cecil  Polhill- 
Turner,  had  taken  up  work  at  Ta-chien-lu,  and  I  care- 
fully questioned  those  two  men  to  learn  whether  this 
were  a  fact  or  not.  They  informed  me  that  there  were 
several  families  of  foreigners  living  there,  all  of  whom 
had  large  houses,  one  with  men  only  outside  the  north 
gate,  another  of  the  same  kind  outside  the  south  gate, 
and  one  entirely  with  women  inside  the  town;  all  of 
which  were  Roman  Catholic  establishments,  the  last 
mentioned  being  a  school  kept  by  Chinese  Roman 
Catholic  nuns.  There  was  yet  another  family,  they 
said,  who  had  just  arrived,  with  a  lady  and  some  chil- 
dren. These,  I  decided,  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner 
and  their  co-workers.  The  men  then  proceeded  to  tell 
me  what  the  people  said  of  the  foreigners,  how  their 
servants  bought  children  on  the  streets  and  took  them 
to  the  foreign  home,  whence  they  were  never  seen 
again;  how  the  strange  men  could  look  at  Chinese 
brass  coins  and  change  them  with  their  evil  eyes  into 
rupees  with  the  head  of  a  woman  on  them.  No  one, 
they  added,  was  allowed  to  enter  the  house  to  see  what 
was  within.  I  think,  on  the  whole,  in  new  places  it  is 
wise  for  missionaries  to  have  their  homes  open  so  that 
natives  may  at  times  see  into  the  smallest  corners,  and 
thus,  as  "  seeing  is  believing,"  crush  at  the  outset  any 
ideas  of  mystery  which  heathen  people  are  only  too 
ready  to  entertain. 

In  the  quiet  of  that  lumber  shanty  my  two  Chinese 
guides  told  the  others  many  things  they  had  learned  of 
foreigners  from  me,  and  the  impression  they  had  re- 


384  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

ceived  of  the  only  foreigner  they  had  ever  seen.  They 
explained  the  purpose  of  missionaries  in  coming  to 
and  settling  in  a  far-away  country,  and  said  their  sup- 
port did  not  come  from  magic,  but  from  people  in  the 
homeland,  who  sent  them  so  much  salary  a  year. 
Nevertheless  the  strange  tales  that  they  had  heard  did 
not  lessen  their  dread  of  entering  the  home  of  for- 
eigners whom  none  of  us  knew,  for  of  course  I  did 
not  even  know  the  Chinese  name  of  a  single  missionary 
in  Ta-chien-lu,  and  I  felt  really  sorry  for  the  men, 
their  dread  was  so  genuine,  but  they  had  implicit  con- 
fidence in  me  and  would  have  gone  any  place  with  me. 
I  told  them  when  in  the  future  they  heard  anything 
disparaging  about  missionaries  to  just  remember  that 
they  were  all  as  good  as  I  was,  to  say  the  very  least 
that  could  be  said  about  them. 

One  of  the  lumbermen  told  us  of  a  foreigner  who 
had  gone  past  their  shanty  a  few  days  previous  on  his 
way  up  country,  walking  and  carrying  a  chest  of  car- 
penter's tools  on  his  back,  while  one  Chinese  servant 
accompanied  him.  The  foreigner  had  given  him  some 
medicine  for  rheumatism,  and  could  speak  Chinese  and 
Lhasa  Tibetan.  I  wondered  who  it  could  have  been 
and  found,  when  I  reached  the  mission  station,  that  it 
was  one  of  the  Tibetan  mission  band,  the  talented, 
bright  Mr,  Amundsen,  who  had  endeavored  to  become 
like  a  native  himself,  and  in  an  unpretentious  way  was 
seeking  to  gain  a  foothold  among  them.  He  was  un- 
fortunately attacked  by  a  drunken  Tibetan,  who  con- 
cluded that  his  box  was  full  of  silver.     Having  been 


SAFE  AT  LAST  386 

robbed  of  almost  everything,  he  had  returned  by  an- 
other route  to  his  home  in  Ta-ehien-lu. 

When  we  had  had  our  tea  and  were  thoroughly  dried, 
we  made  ready  to  spend  the  night,  and  soon  in  the 
very  small  space,  around  the  hollow  fireplace,  were 
crouched  six  men  and  myself,  while  in  the  yard  were 
several  Tibetans.  My  own  two  men  were  closest  to  me, 
but  all  were  within  touching  distance,  and  yet  I  had 
not  a  tremor  of  fear  of  them,  so  great  was  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Chinese  and  Tibetans,  that  to  be 
with  the  former  meant  perfect  freedom  from  fear  and 
anxiety;  even  though  these  lumbermen  were  rough  and 
uncultured,  they  were  kind,  and  made  me  feel  their 
sympathy.  A  common  danger  made  us  all  akin  in  the 
little  shanty,  for  at  intervals  was  heard  and  felt  the 
great  rumbling  noise  of  earthquake  shocks,  which  were 
sometimes  strong  enough  to  shake  the  roof.  The  lum- 
bermen recited  on  and  off,  tales  of  landslides  and  earth- 
quakes in  the  valleys  near,  painting  in  glowing  words 
the  beauty  of  the  homes  so  suddenly  destroyed  and 
the  great  piety  and  devotion  of  lamas  who  had  been 
crushed.  These  recitals  subdued  me  with  quiet  awe, 
and  I  was  thankful  after  the  sleepless  night  to  see  the 
first  streaks  of  dawn,  though  with  them  came  the  most 
violent  shock  of  all. 

The  sun  was  well  up  before  we  started  to  walk  again, 
and  its  heat  quickly  melted  the  snow  which  had  fallen 
to  a  depth  of  several  inches.  The  road  was  virtually 
a  stream  of  running  water,  in  places  almost  half  a  foot 
deep,  but  I  cheerfully  splashed  through  it,  knowing 
that  I  would,  after  a  twenty-mile  walk,  reach  a  Chinese 


386  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

inn  or  the  mission  station,  either  of  which  would  prove 
a  haven  of  rest.  The  road  was  a  gradual  descent, 
though  here  and  there  were  sharp  ascents  which  taxed 
my  strength  to  the  utmost,  and  at  times  made  me 
almost  despair  of  reaching  Ta-chien-lu  that  day.  But 
on  we  trudged  over  the  stony  road  skirted  on  either 
side  now  by  rocks,  now  by  clusters  of  holly  and 
rhododendrons  to  me  unspeakably  beautiful,  indications 
of  the  return  of  summer  with  its  blue  skies  and  balmy 
mountain  air.  We  passed  luxuriant  valleys,  and 
groups  of  houses,  Chinese  in  appearance  and  so  differ- 
ent from  the  homes  of  Tibetan  agriculturalists,  repos- 
ing on  the  hillsides  looking  so  neat  and  inviting.  My 
physical  weakness  and  sore  feet  took  away  much  of 
the  poetry  and  all  the  pleasure  of  the  walk.  The 
Chinese  boys  kept  urging  me  on,  not  willing  that  I 
should  rest  every  little  distance  on  a  stone  by  the  road- 
side, as  I  felt  compelled  to  do.  Thirty  miles'  walk  the 
day  before  and  twenty  that  day  could  not  be  accom- 
plished by  my  already  exhausted  strength  without 
acute  suffering ;  but  the  goal  was  safety,  peace  and  rest, 
and  on  I  went. 

Past  a  picturesque  lamasery  with  red  buildings 
surrounded  by  tall  trees,  on  over  an  arched  bridge, 
we  wended  our  way  toward  the  south  gate  of  the 
town.  My  escort  persuaded  me  to  mount  my  poor, 
tired  horse  and  ride  into  the  place  "  in  state."  Just 
outside  the  gate  we  paused  at  the  massive  doors  of  the 
Eoman  Catholic  Mission  to  inquire  the  whereabouts  of 
Mr.  Turner's  house.  It  was  certainly  amusing  and  yet 
pitiful  to  see  my  boy  edge  away  from  the  door  after 


SAFE  AT  LAST  38T 

knocking.  He  had  a  mortal  fear  of  foreigners,  and 
evidently  expected  something  to  spring  out  of  the  door 
at  him.  A  Chinaman  answered  our  inquiry  and  in- 
formed us  that  Mr.  Turner  lived  across  the  river.  As 
we  went  on  we  attracted  very  little  attention  even  in 
the  crowded,  narrow  streets,  for  Ta-chien-lu  has  a 
motley  population,  and  no  one  suspected  that  I  was 
other  than  a  Tibetan.  After  we  had  crossed  the 
bridge  a  young  Chinaman  ran  up  and  told  me  to  hide 
my  knife  and  chopsticks  that  hung  by  my  girdle,  as 
thieves  might  steal  them.  He  then  led  us  through  a 
narrow,  dark  alley  underneath  a  house,  where  I  dis- 
mounted, as  a  lama  called  out  in  stentorian  voice, 
"  What  are  you  doing  mounted  here  ?  "  Our  guide  was 
the  cook  who,  upon  arrival  at  the  Fu-ing-tang  (China 
Inland  Mission  House),  rushed  into  the  young  men's 
room  telling  them  a  man  had  come,  not  knowing 
whether  I  was  a  Tibetan  or  a  European.  In  response 
to  his  excitedly  given  information,  two  missionaries, 
Messrs.  Amundsen  and  Moyes,  stood  in  the  outer  court- 
yard when  I  walked  through  the  entrance.  How  clean 
they  looked  in  Chinese  garb,  and  how  white  their  faces ! 
I  knew  I  was  not  clean,  yet,  conscious  of  my  dirtiness 
and  rags,  I  stood  in  their  presence  waiting  to  be  ad- 
dressed. But  no,  I  must  speak  first;  so  I  said  in 
English,  "  Is  this  Mr.  Turner's  ?  "  and  Mr.  Moyes  re- 
plied "Yes."  How  the  word  thrilled  me  through  and 
through.  It  was  the  first  English  word  I  had  heard 
since  that  never-to-be-forgotten  morning  two  months 
before  when  my  husband  disappeared  around  the  rock, 
and  the  speaker  was  the  first  white  stranger  I  had  seen 


388  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

since  before  we  left  Tankar.  There  was  another  pause, 
for  I  was  well  nigh  overcome  with  emotion;  then  I 
said,  "  I  am  Dr.  Kijnhart."  Mr.  Amundsen  then  in- 
vited me  upstairs  to  Mrs.  Turner's  apartments.  They 
had  been  so  dumbfounded  to  hear  the  voice  of  an  Eng- 
lishwoman come  from  such  a  Tibetanized  person  that 
at  first  they  could  not  speak  at  all.  Upon  reaching  the 
door  of  the  dining-room  Mrs.  Turner  arose  while  Mr. 
Amundsen  introduced  me.  Dear  Mrs.  Turner  asked, 
"  Are  you  alone  ?  "  "  When  have  you  had  anything  to 
eat  ? "  Such  thoughtful,  beautiful  care  !  Then  she 
said,  "  Come  into  the  nursery  and  cook  will  bring  you 
some  tea."  I  looked  at  the  clean  matting,  so  spotless, 
and  then  at  my  boots,  which  oozed  at  every  step,  leav- 
ing dirty  marks  behind,  and  I  protested  that  I  was  too 
dirty  to  go  into  such  a  clean  room.  But  that  did  not 
matter,  I  was  ushered  in  only  to  have  my  heart  torn 
by  the  sight  of  little  Kenneth,  just  about  the  size  of 
my  darling  baby  bo}'^,  for  whom  I  mourned.  Tea  in  a 
dainty  cup  and  some  cookies  were  given  me  for  re- 
freshment, and  then  Mrs.  Turner  offered  me  a  place  to 
rest  until  supper;  but  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  sit 
down  to  a  clean  table  with  cleanly  people,  and  I  asked 
for  a  bath  and  some  underwear,  in  response  to  which 
request  every  member  of  the  household  contributed 
towards  my  change  of  raiment. 

I  had  arrived  in  Ta-chien-lu  just  two  months  after 
Mr.  Eijnhart's  disappearance.  Could  it  be  possible 
that  I  had  survived  that  long  and  perilous  journey 
alone  over  moimtains  and  rivers,  surrounded  by  hos- 
tile people  and  subjected  to  hourly  danger  from  those 


SAFE  AT  LAST  389 

who  professed  to  be  my  guides?  Was  I  really  once 
more  in  a  Christian  home,  surrounded  by  kind  friends 
and  comforts?  Yes,  at  last,  and  the  realization  of  it 
grew  upon  me  when  I  saw  myself  delivered  from  the 
dirt  and  vermin  of  weeks,  and  lay  down  to  rest  once 
more  on  a  clean  bed.  Gratitude  filled  my  heart,  and 
with  the  Psalmist  I  could  say: 

Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul  5 

And  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy  name.    *    *    * 

Who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction; 

Who  crowneth  thee  witb  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies; 

Who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  pood  things; 

So  that  thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's. 

At  the  supper  table  Mr.  Turner  asked  me  what  I 
would  like  to  know  first  about  the  outside  world, 
since  I  had  been  isolated  so  long.  Scarcely  knowing 
where  to  begin,  I  stammered  out  the  question,  "  Is 
Queen  Victoria  still  alive  ?  " 

Disappointed  at  not  finding  an  official  at  Jyekundo, 
I  now  hoped  to  be  able  to  ascertain  through  official 
means  some  definite  news  about  my  husband's  fate. 
I  prepared  a  statement  of  the  case  and  sent  it  to  the 
British  Consul  at  Chong-King,  requesting  him  to  for- 
ward the  same  to  the  Dutch  and  British  ministers  at 
Pekin,  to  be  presented  by  them  to  the  Tsung-li  Yamen. 
For  six  months  I  waited  in  Ta-chien-lu  in  the  hope 
that  some  reliable  reports  would  come  down  from  the 
interior  of  Tibet,  but  I  waited  in  vain.  On  my  arrival 
at  Ta-chien-lu  I  had  not  a  cent  of  money,  but  kind 
friends  in  America  responded  generously  to  my  need, 
and  I  was  able  to  get  down  to  Shanghai,  thence  to 


390  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Tien  tsin,  where  I  interviewed  Mr,  Knobel,  Minister 
for  the  Netherlands,  who  assured  me  that  he  would  do 
everything  in  his  power  to  induce  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment to  make  an  investigation,  and  added  that  Sir 
Claude  Macdonald,  the  British  Minister,  was  acting 
jointly  with  him  in  the  matter.  I  would  fain  have 
remained  in  China  to  await  the  result,  but  my  health 
was  undermined,  friends  were  pressing  me  to  return  to 
America,  and  Mr.  Knobel  assured  me  that  my  presence 
was  not  necessary,  that  the  government  would  do 
everything  that  could  be  done.  Under  date  of  May  2, 
1900,  Mr.  Knobel  received  a  report  from  the  Tsung-li 
Yamen,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation: 

"  With  regard  to  Mr.  Eijnhart's  case,  out  yamen 
has  repeatedly  corresponded  with  the  Governor  of 
Szechuen,  the  Imperial  Resident  in  Tibet,  and  the 
Imperial  Agent  at  Sining,  who  were  all  instructed  to 
investigate  and  report  upon  the  matter.  We  wrote  you 
already  to  this  effect  on  March  8th,  last.  We  since 
received,  on  April  21st,  a  dispatch  from  the  Imperial 
Agent  at  Sining,  reading: 

"'About  this  matter,  telegrams  have  come  to  hand 
from  the  Tsung-li  Yamen  and  the  Governor  of 
Szechuen  instructing  me  to  hold  an  investigation. 
The  necessary  orders  have  been  given.  According  to 
information  received  from  the  English  missionary 
Lo  Teheng  (Laughton),  living  at  Sining  in  the  Fu 
yin  tan,  the  Dutch  missionary  "Lin"  is  the  same  as 
Mr.  Rijnhart.  He  is  said  to  have  disappeared  while 
traveling. 

" '  The  missionary  Lo  had  found  a  priest  by  the 


SAFE  AT  LAST  391 

name  of  I-shi-ni-ma,  who  made  inquiries  for  him. 
Upon  reaching  the  bank  of  the  river  he  heard  that  the 
murder  was  committed  by  an  inhabitant  of  "  To-chia  " 
by  the  name  of  "  Chia-li-ya-sa." 

" '  Whereupon  I  (the  Agent)  sent  two  competent 
persons  from  my  yamen  with  the  priest  "  I-shi-ni-ma  " 
to  "  To-chia,"  and  gave  them  an  escort  of  civil  and 
military  officials  and  soldiers.     Their  report  is: 

" '  According  to  the  people  of  "  To-chia,"  the  oldest 
inhabitants  of  the  place,  together  with  the  priest 
"  I-shi-ni-ma  "  had  gone  from  house  to  house,  but  man 
nor  woman,  old  nor  young,  knew  anything  about  a 
murder  committed  upon  a  Dutch  missionary;  also  they 
did  not  know  "  Chia-li-ya-sa."  We,  the  people  of 
"  To-chia,"  number  three  hundred  families,  large  and 
small,  and  are  all  good  subjects.  If  it  should  be  dis- 
covered hereafter  that  a  murderer  of  a  European  is 
among  us,  we  are  willing  to  suffer  punishment. 

" '  I  (the  Agent)  feared  that  all  this  might  not  be 
quite  true,  so  I  sent  successively  again  a  major,  Li 
Chih  Chung,  and  an  official  writer,  "  Yen  Ling,"  to  the 
said  place  in  order  to  make  new  investigation.  The 
major  and  others  reported  that  they  received  a  peti- 
tion from  Penk'o,  the  chief  of  the  village,  which  was 
to  the  same  effect  as  above.  This  is  the  result  of  my 
investigation.' 

"  As  soon  as  we  receive  the  reply  from  Szechuen  and 
Tibet,  we  will  inform  your  Excellency. 

"  Pekin,  May  2nd,  1900." 

No  further  news  except  vague  native   reports  has 


392  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

been  received;  nor  is  it  likely  that  I  shall  ever  hear 
anything  more  definite. 

The  reader  will  recognize  in  the  above  report  the 
name  of  Ishiuima,  our  Tibetan  teacher  at  Kumbum. 
With  all  his  faults  he  had  a  sympathetic  heart,  for  as 
soon  as  he  heard  that  our  caravan  had  come  to  grief 
in  the  interior  and  that  Mr.  Eijnhart  had  been  killed, 
he  offered  his  services  to  the  official  at  Sining,  and 
made  the  long  journey  to  the  interior  in  search  of 
authentic  information  concerning  his  friend.  Dear  old 
Ishinima !  On  this  page,  which  will  forever  to  him  be 
sealed  and  unknown,  I  cannot  refrain  from  making 
some  slight  acknowledgment  of  his  services.  The 
sweet  associations  of  our  residence  in  the  lamasery  will 
never  be  forgotten  either  by  me  or  by  him,  and  although 
his  dream  of  some  day  visiting  America  with  the  "  for- 
eign teacher"  is  now  shattered,  yet  it  comforts  me  to 
know  that  he  has  heard  the  name  of  Jesus,  is  acquainted 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  prays  to  the 
"  Heavenly  Ruler  "  as  well  as  to  his  brazen  idol.  While 
I  think  of  him  gratefully  and  pray  for  him  earnestly 
I  know  that  from  time  to  time  his  thought  will  wander 
to  the  far  interior  of  his  native  land,  where  sleeps  the 
dust  of  two  whom  he  loved — and  also  to  me  in  the  dis- 
tant land  so  full  of  wonders,  lying  across  the  deep  blue 
ocean. 

It  is  natural  to  weigh  our  sacrifices  against  their 
results,  although  the  process  brings  little  consolation, 
for  so  often  in  our  superficial  view  the  results  are  mini- 
fied beyond  our  vision  and  the  sacrifice  fills  the  whole 
horizon.     Since  my  return  to    America    many    have 


SAFE  AT  LAST  393 

raised  the  question,  "  Wa«  the  cause  worth  the  suffer- 
ing and  have  results  justified  it  ? "  Critics  of  mis- 
sions ask  it — those  who  lift  up  their  hands  of  disap- 
proval when  a  life  is  given  for  the  sake  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  spiritual  uplifting  of  a  benighted  people,  yet 
lustily  applaud  the  soldier  who  spills  his  blood  on  the 
battlefield  in  the  cause  of  territorial  expansion  or  na- 
tional aggrandizement.  To  such  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  Christ  also  has  his  soldiers  who  are  willing  to  die 
for  his  cause  if  need  be,  in  the  belief  that  his  cause 
is  the  sublimest  among  men,  and  who  are  content  to 
leave  the  results  with  him  knowing  that  the  Great  Cap- 
tain of  their  Salvation  will  in  his  own  time  lead  his 
hosts  unto  ultimate  victory  and  a  kingdom  universal. 
Such  is  the  optimism  of  the  Gospel  and  such  the  faith 
and  courage  it  generates. 

Kind  Christian  friends  have  questioned  our  wisdom 
in  entering  Tibet.  Why  not  have  waited,  they  ask,  un- 
til Tibet  was  opened  by  "  the  powers "  so  that  mis- 
sionaries could  go  in  under  government  protection  ? 
There  is  much  heart  in  the  question  but  little  logic. 
Christ  does  not  tell  his  disciples  to  wait,  but  to  go. 
We  are  not  to  choose  conditions,  we  are  to  meet  them. 
The  early  apostles  did  not  wait  until  the  Eoman  Em- 
pire was  "  opened  "  before  they  kindled  that  fire  that 
"  burned  to  the  water's  edge  all  round  the  Mediter- 
ranean," but  carrying  their  lives  in  their  hands  they 
traveled  through  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  Greece  and 
finally  to  Rome,  delivering  their  message  in  the  very 
centers  of  paganism.  Persecutions  came  upon  them 
from  every  side,  but  nothing  but  death  could  hinder 


394  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

their  progress  or  silence  their  message.  They  went  to 
glorious  martyrdom  and  being  dead  they  have  never 
ceased  to  speak.  Paul  says,  "  When  it  was  the  good 
pleasure  of  God  *  *  *  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me, 
that  I  might  preach  Him  among  the  Gentiles,  imme- 
diately I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood."'  (Gal. 
1,  15-16.)  Though  he  knew  bonds  and  imprisonments 
awaited  him  in  every  city,  he  pursued  his  great  mis- 
sionary- journeys  shrinking  not  from  Innumerable  per- 
ils and  even  glorying  in  his  tribulations.  He  was  will- 
ing "not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jeru- 
salem for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus "  (Acts  xxi  13), 
and  although  he  did  not  court  death  he  elected  to  go 
to  the  very  gates  of  the  Imperial  City  and  face  the 
judgment  seat  of  a  Caesar,  because  of  his  desire  to 
preach  Christ  even  at  Eome.  Instead  of  waiting  till 
the  countries  under  the  sway  of  Rome  were  opened, 
the  apostle  went  forth  in  the  power  of  God  to  open 
them.  So  it  has  ever  been  in  the  history  of  Christi- 
anity. Had  the  missionaries  waited  till  all  countries 
were  ready  and  willing  to  receive  them,  so  that  they 
could  go  forth  without  danger  and  sacrifice,  England 
might  still  have  been  the  home  of  barbarians,  Living- 
stone's footsteps  never  would  have  consecrated  the  Afri- 
can wilderness,  there  would  have  been  no  Carey  in 
India,  the  South  Sea  Islanders  would  still  be  sunk 
in  their  cannibalism,  and  the  thousands  of  Christians 
found  in  pagan  and  heathen  lands  to-day  would  still 
be  in  the  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death. 

Tibet,  like  other  lands  must  have  the  light.     The 
command  is  "  Go  preach  the  Gospel  to  ever}'  creature.*' 


SAFE  AT  LAST  395 

The  work  is  great.  So  great  that  beside  its  greatness 
any  sacrifice  involved  in  its  accomplishment  is  small. 
Mr.  Kijnhart  frequently  gave  expression  to  his  one  burn- 
ing ambition  to  be  of  service  in  evangelizing  Tibet — 
whether  by  his  life  or  his  death,  he  said,  did  not  mat- 
ter to  him.  With  David  Brainerd  he  could  say,  "  I 
longed  to  be  a  flame  of  fire,  continually  glowing  in  the 
service  of  God  and  building  up  Christ's  kingdom  to  my 
latest,  my  dying  moments."  Eemembering  his  conse- 
cration I  too  can  be  strong  and  say,  as  I  bring  the  story 
to  a  close,  "  God  doeth  all  things  well — the  sacrifice  was 
not  too  great." 

The  results  of  the  Journey  herein  described  are  to  me 
of  the  most  encouraging  character.  Interest  in  Tibet 
has  been  aroused  among  Christians  of  many  denomina- 
tions, and  the  country  and  its  needs  have  been  brought 
prominently  to  the  notice  of  several  mission  boards.  The 
hope  which  my  husband  cherished  of  seeing  many  labor- 
ers go  forth  to  the  field  seems  nearer  realization  now 
than  in  his  lifetime.  The  seed  sown  is  springing  up 
with  bright  promise.  The  trumpets  are  being  blown 
about  the  walls  of  the  great  closed  land.  Soon  they 
will  fall  that  the  heralds  of  the  Cross  may  enter  in.  I 
see  them  coming  and  I  exclaim — How  beautiful  upon 
the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  in  Tibet 
the  Gospel  of  Peace ! 

While  at  Ta-chien-lu  I  was  much  impressed  by  the 
possibilities  for  missionary  work  all  along  the  eastern 
border.  In  the  town  itself,  splendid  work  is  being  done 
by  the  Tibetan  Band  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  un- 
der the  leadership  of  Mr.  Cecil  Polhill  Turner.     The 


396  WITH  THE  TIBETANS 

Christian  Missionary  Alliance  have  a  work  at  Tao-cheo, 
while  other  large  border  towns,  such  as  Kuei-teh,  Tan- 
kar,  Sungpan  and  others,  offer  splendid  advantages. 
Any  one  of  them  would  make  a  good  center  for  Tibetan 
work.  Ta-chien-lu  is  especially  advantageous  as  so  many 
roads  branch  out  from  it,  and  Jyekundo,  situated  at 
the  juncture  of  great  roads  leading  to  the  border  and 
also  to  the  interior,  could  be  a  splendid  station  from 
which  to  come  into  contact  with  several  tribes.  In 
addition  to  regular  evangelistic  work  there  could  be 
established  in  connection  with  all  missionary  enterprise 
on  the  border,  industrial  schools  and  medical  stations. 
Meanwhile  Kumbum  and  Tankar,  where  we  labored 
three  years,  are  without  missionaries.  Only  the  wor- 
shippers of  Buddha  now  behold  the  gleam  of  the  Ori- 
ental Sun  on  the  golden  roofs  of  the  lamasery;  the 
great  caravans  from  the  city  of  the  Dalai  Lama  pass 
through  the  border  town  with  no  one  to  tell  the  pil- 
grims of  the  "  Heavenly  Euler."  From  ten  thousand 
tongues  amid  the  flutter  of  the  prayer-flags  and  the 
click  of  cylinders  is  heard  the  mystic  invocation — Om 
mani  padme  hum,  but  there  is  no  Christian  altar.  The 
devotees  still  flock  to  revere  the  Sacred  Tree  and  wor- 
ship the  great  Butter  God,  and  amid  all  the  host  there 
is  not  one  witness  for  Jesus  Christ!  The  call  comes 
and  it  will  be  answered  soon,  I  feel  convinced.  And 
whoever  responds  will  find  many  who  know  something 
of  Christianity,  who  have  copies  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
remember  with  affection  the  White  Teacher  who,  while 
he  was  with  them,  labored  for  their  good,  and  who  left 
them  never  to  return.     And  many  will  have  heard  of 


SAFE  AT  LAST  397 

the  lone  little  grave  under  the  huge  boulder  at  the  base 
of  the  Dang  La. 

♦  *  «  *  « 

"  To  the  spirit  select  there  is  no  choice. 
He  cannot  say,  This  will  I  do  or  that. 

*  *  *  »  « 

A  hand  is  stretched  to  him  from  out  the  dark, 
Which  grasping  without  question,  he  is  led 
Where  there  is  work  that  he  must  do  for  God. 
«  «  *  *  * 

To  the  tough  hearts  that  pioneer  their  way 
And  break  a  pathway  to  those  unknown  realms, 
That  in  the  earth's  broad  shadow  lie  enthralled, 
Endurance  is  the  crowning  quality. 
And  patience  all  the  passion  of  great  hearts." 

— J.  R.  LoweU\ 


GLOSSARY. 


Aehi Sister. 

Ahon A  teacher  among  moslems. 

Apa Father. 

Argols Excreta  of  animals. 

Aro Brother. 

Bei-si  or  pet-si Mongol  chief. 

Chang Alcoholicliquor  made  by  Tibetans. 

CJiang  lam Long  road. 

Chen  tax Military  official. 

Chong-kuei  teh Head  of  a  house,  shopkeeper 

Choma Edible  root. 

Ch(/rten Monument. 

Churma Dried  curds  of  buttermilk. 

Dalai  Lama Grand  lama. 

Dimo  dimo  ing Tibetan  salutation. 

Dzassak Mongol  chief. 

Fa  tai Abbot. 

Fen-kuai-tsi Dried  manure  bricks. 

Fu-ing-tang C.  I.  M.  Chapel. 

Fu  tai... Civil  official. 

Fu  yeh.. Living  Buddha. 

Gelu  Yellow  sect  of  lamas. 

Oimbi Controller  of  Official  escort. 

Oomba Monastery. 

Heh-ho-shang Black  priests. 

Ho  pen Shallow  pot  for  fire. 

Huei-huei Mohammedan. 

398 


GLOSSARY  399 

lang-ta-ren Foreign  great  man. 

le  mah Wild  mule. 

Ja-ja Sleeveless  jacket. 

Ja-lam Road  traveled  by  tea  caravans. 

K'a  che Mohammedan. 

Kali Slowly. 

ICang The  hollow  heated  platform  in  use  as 

a  bed  and  divan. 

Kanpo Abbot. 

Kao  yeh Secretary. 

Karwa Palace. 

Khata Scarf  of  ceremony. 

Khopa  or  kopa Tibetan  from  the  interior. 

Kiang Discuss. 

Kotow Strike  the  forehead  to  the  ground  in 

worship  or  honor. 

Kiuxn  men Official  gate. 

KiLShok Gentleman. 

Ku   tsi Trousers. 

Lama Buddhist  priest. 

La    roTig Official  residence  of  the  abbot. 

Ld One-third  of  an  English  mile. 

Long  ta Wind  horse  made  of  paper. 

Mamha Doctor. 

Mamhafu  yeh Medical  buddha. 

Mang  tuan   Satin  given  by  the   Emperor  to  the 

Mongol  princes. 

Mani Prayer,  rosary. 

UTien Vermicelli. 

Obo Pile  of  stones  on  a  hill  or  pass. 

Oru88 Russian. 

Panaka Nomadic  Tibetan  of  N.  E.  Tibet. 

Pao  ren A  man  who  acts  as  security. 

Peh  Sing Subjects,  common  people. 

Peh  tsi Coolie  who  carries  loads  on  his  back. 

Peling English. 

Pel-lu Northern  road. 


400  GLOSSARY 

PioA Agreement. 

Pien  8hi Small,  boiled,  moat  dumplings. 

Poribo  Official. 

Pmibo    cKenjpo Great  official. 

Puh  tsi Shop. 

Pulu Woolen  cloth  made  by  Tibetans. 

Sho Junket. 

SuTig  Kuan Disciplinarian. 

Ta  ho Older  brother, 

Tangut Tibetan  of  lake  district. 

Too  tai Official  of  third  rank. 

Tiao  lo Tower  of  defence. 

Ting Civil  official  in  small  town. 

Tong    kuan Eastern  suburb. 

Tsamba Parched  barley  meal. 

Tsao  ti Grass  country. 

Tseh Thief, 

Tung  shih Interpreter. 

Ula Relays  of  animals  supplied  by  Gov- 
ernment order, 

Wang  yeh Prince  or  chief. 

Wu  chai  Tihata Scarfs  of  ceremony  in  parcels  of  five. 

Yamen Home  and  office  of  an  official. 

Yesu  Ma'shika Jesus  Christ. 


INDEX 


Abbot  (vide  Kanpo).  Burh'an  Bola  pass  (Buddha's 
Achi,  201,  203.  Cauldron),  227,  232,  233,  234. 

Ahons,  51,  53,  54,98.  Burnt  offering,  ceremony  of, 
Alexander  of  Russia,  123.  32,  33. 

Alphabet,  Tibetan,  37.  Butter,  Tibetan,  181,  182. 

Altar,  110.  Butter  God  Festival,  115,  116, 
Altar-lamp,  301.  117,  118,  119. 

Amban  of  Sining,  27,  28,  42,  Butter  lamps,  110,  114. 

43,  ;133,  196,   197,   220,   325,  Cart,  Chinese,  16,  17. 

355,  357,  389.  Cattle,  Tibetan,  180,  181. 

Ambush,  Robbers',  302,  303.  Ch'amdo,  275,  351. 

Amdo,  9,  27,  104,  107,  112.  Chang,  143,  144,  185. 

Amdo-wa,  27.  Chango,  373. 

Amputation,  Confucian  teach-  Chango  Gomba,  373. 

ing  on,  79.  Chang-Ko,  373. 

Amundsen,  Mr.,  384,  387,  388.  Chen-hai  pu,  93,  97. 

Ani,    140,    141,    156,   157,  162,  Chen-tai  of  Sining,  89,  92,  93, 

165,  166,  202,  206,  207.  94. 

Apa,  325,  327,  328,  329.  Children,  Tibetan,  166,  167. 

Arabic,  53.  China  Inland  Mission,  22,  24, 
Argols,  44,    78,    80,    179,    183,        26,  387,  395. 

222,  303.  Chomora  Lake,  262,  263,  265, 
Army,  of  lamas,  58,  72,  73,  74.       277,  279. 

Arnold,  Sir  Edwin,  66.  Chorten,  368. 

Artists,  Tibetan,  119,  Chumar  River,  152,  240. 

Baga-nor,  211.  Churma,  172,  173,  177,  182. 

Balema  gol,  212.  Dabesun-nor,  216. 

Barong,  201,  202,  214,  219,  223.  Dalai  Lama,  113,  144,  145,  161, 
Batang,  275.  192,   210,   220,   246,  261,  265, 

Bayan  gol,  219.  268. 

Bear,  encounter  with,  217,  218.  Dam  chu.  289. 

Bible  School  at  Lusar,  86,  87,  Dang  chu,  254,  281. 

88.  Dang  La  Mountains,  245,  252, 
Bicycle,  167,  168.  254,  397. 

Blue    Lake   (vide  also   Koko-  Dawo,  373,  378. 

nor),  186,  187,188,  189.  Derge,  275,  3.54,  366,  372. 

Eonvalot,  191.  Discipline,  131. 

Buddha  (Gautama),  9.  Djoma,  Mt.,  242. 

Buddhism,  Tibetan,  66,  Doma,  140,  141,  142,  166,   206. 

Buha  gol,  212.  Dorst,  Mt.,  242. 

401 


402  INDEX. 

Dowe,  229.  Ho,  General,  81,  83. 

Drechu,  242,  351,  360,  363,  364,  Horba,  275,  354,  369,  372. 

365.  House-boat,  12,  14,   15. 

Drunkenness  of  lamas,  148.  Hsi-ho   (Western    River),    58^ 
Drushi  Chu,  363.  93,  133,  134,  174,  209,  211. 

Dsun,  234.  Hsuen-hua-ting,  52.  55,  57. 

Dulan  gol,  215.  Hue  (&   Gabet),   10,  103,    106, 
Dulan  kao,  215,  216.  107,  113,   127,  191,  261,  275. 

Dulan  nor,  216.  langmaoko,  70. 

Dulan  si,  215.  Ichu,  275. 

Dutreuil  de  Rhins,   176,   230,  Idolatry,    Tibetan,    110,    111, 

316,  329,  358.  119. 

Dzassak  of  Barong,  223,  225,  Iki  Olan,  212. 

226,  229,  233.  Incense  burning,  65,  114. 

Eastern  Turkestan,  160.  Inner    Tibet,    152,    191,     196, 
Ergetsu,  218.  232,  263. 

Fancheng,  16,  21.  Ishinima  (our  Tibetan  teach- 
Ferguson,  Wm.  Neil,    12,  44,       er), 35,  36,  37,38,39,  40,  41,42, 

45,  46,  68,  69,  138.  43,  44,  45,  46,   47,  59,  61,  88, 

Foot-binding,  140.  170,  209,  392. 

Fuyeh,  the  little,  64,  65,  67.  Jambula,  81,  129,  130. 

Ga-chuen-tsi,     204,     209,    233,  Ja-si,  204,  208,  233,  238. 

235,  238.  Jerimpoche,  261. 

Ga-je,  325,  354.  Jesus  and  Tsong    K'aba,  122, 
Gelu,  sect  of  lamas,  105.  123. 

Gimbi,  the,  367,  368.  Jeto  pass,  379,  380. 

Gold  Image  of  Tsong  K'aba,  Journey  to  the  Interior,  prep- 

110.  arations  for,   197,    198,   199; 

Gold  Tiled  Temple,  104,  109.      supplies,  205. 

Goloks,  224.  Jyekundo,   275,   276,  280,   323, 
Gomba  Soba   (Soma),  43,  209,      '324,  325,  328,   329,  331,  333, 

210.  337,  338,    343,  346,    349,   350, 

Good     Samaritan,   lesson    of,       351,  353,  357,  369. 

101.  Kaldan,  lamasery  of,  105,  106. 

Gosa  Gomba,  367.  K'ang,  18,  64,  65,  72,  93. 

Gospels,  presentation  and  dis-  Kanpo   (Abbot),  of  Kumbum, 

tribution  of,    185,    188,    189,       60,  61.  62,  63,  70,  71,  123. 

190,  212,  222,  260,  269,  286.  Kansa,  354,  362. 

Grenard,  176,  316.  Kans6,  358,  369,  372,  373. 

Hall,  Mr.,  26,  28,  69,  153.  Kansu,   22,  25,  26,  27,   28,  55, 
Han-kia,  31.  196. 

Hankow,  12,  14,  155.  Kanzego,  372. 

Hedin,    Dr.  Sven,    144;   visits  Kambas,  176,  230. 

Rijnharts    at  Tankar,    158,  Karma  Kumbum,  280. 

159,   160,    161,   162,  165,  186,  Kashgar,  52,  158. 

187.  Katsa  gol,  216. 

Hermit  lamas,  187.  Khamlung  La,  257. 


INDEX. 


403 


Khara  Kottel,  157. 

Khata(s),    40,     113,    164,    165, 

172,  318. 
Kiai-ya,  76,  78. 
Knobel,  Mr.,  390. 
Koko-beileh,  desert  of,  317. 
Koko-nor    (vide     also    "Blue 

Lake"),  10,  42,  43,  47,  49,  55, 

98,    133,  143,    166,  170,     174, 

175,  186,    187,   189,   196,  211, 

258. 
Koko-nor  Tibetans,    164,  170, 

178,  185,  195. 
Koko-shilis,  214. 
Kopa(s),  161    164,198,310,211, 

216,  235,  240,    243,    267,  268. 
Koran,  54. 

Korluk-bei-si,    210,    214,    225. 
Kueh-teh,  70,  71. 
Kuenlun  Mountains,  220,  223, 

337    232, 
Kumbum,  9,  36,  38,  30,  53,  54, 

55,  58,   59,  60,  61,  64,  70,  74, 

75,  137,  161,  168. 
Kushok(s),  144,  145,  192. 
Ladak,  52,  152,   197,   198,  273, 

273,  274,  279. 

Lamas,  number  of,  103;  igno- 
rance of,  125,  272,  273;  resi- 
dence of,  103,  104;  drinking 
habits  of,  147,  148, 

Lamaseries,  103,  103. 

Lamasery  of  Kumbum,  54,  64, 

76,  103,  108,  154  (Chap.  vi). 
Lancheo,  31,  33,  24,  25,  57,  69, 

91. 
Landor,  191. 
Lhasa,    9,    11,    103,    105,    123, 

124,  133,    152,    161,    186,  191, 

193,  194,  202,    230,   231,  236, 

246,  357. 
Li,  General,  90. 
Li  Ilung  Chang,  19. 
Liangcheo,  57. 
Li  Lao-yoh,  76. 
Lit'ang.  380. 
Losang  Kindum,  145,  146, 147. 


Lusas,  9,  10,  11,  26,  28,  29, 
47,  48,  53,  54.  58,  59,  91,  95, 
101,  137,  168. 

Macdonald,  Sir  Claude,  390. 

Mabatmas,  134,  132. 

Malcolm,  Lieut.,  153,  158. 

Mamba,  163,  276,  277,  281,  282, 
233,  286,  335. 

Mamba  Fuyeh,  election  of, 40, 
41,  42. 

Manchuria,  9,  109. 

Massacres,  Chap.  v. 

Medical  Missions,  34,  35,  64, 
65,  77,  78,  79,  84,  91,  96, 
128,  139,  155,  163,  164,  173, 
213,  334. 

Medical  Science  of  Tibetans, 
34,  163,  165,  174,  175. 

Mendicants,  179, 

Merchant,    Chinese,    341,   343, 
344,  345, 

Mina  Fuyeh,  70,  109;  his  resi- 
idence,  130;  conversations 
with,  on  Christianity,  133, 
133;  his  previous  incarna- 
tions, 131,  136,  137  ;  his  edu- 
cation, 133,  134,  135,  137, 
138;  his  illness,  139;  his 
visit  to  Tankar,  147,  150; 
his  disciple,  151;  his  kind- 
ness to  the  author,  157;  his 
visit  to  Lhasa,  193,  193. 

Missionary  Sacrifices  and 
Prospects,  392,  393,  394,  395, 
396. 

Mohammedans  of  China,  50, 
51, 

Mohammedans  of  Kansu,  38, 
39,  51,  53,  58, 

Mohammedans  of  Tankar,  135, 

Mohammedan  Rebellion  of 
1861-1874,  35,    53,    121,    134. 

Mohammedan  Relsellion  of 
1895,  Chap,  iii,  etseq. 

Mason,  Mr,  22. 

Mongolia,  9,  29,  106,  115,  123, 
193. 


404 


INDEX. 


Mongols  (Mongolians),  10,  11, 
28,    29,    72,     103,     136,     210, 

Mongol  tents,  211,  214,  219, 
221,  222,  225. 

Monteorvin,  Jean  de,  107. 

Moyes,  Mr.,  387. 

Mur-ussu,  241,  242,  245,  252. 

Music,  Tibetan,  178. 

Music-box,  incident  of,  60,  61, 
62. 

Nagch'uk'a,  232,  243,253,  256, 
261,  263,  264,  265,  266,  269, 
271,  273,  279,  297,  328,  351. 

Nan  Cbuan,  82,  88. 

Nan  Hsi  Temples,  90. 

Nepaul,  275. 

Nestorian  Tablet,  21. 

New  Year  Festival,  21,  22, 

Ninchung  Gomba,  378. 

Nirvana,  64,  136. 

Nocturnal  Devotions,  Cere- 
mony of,  114,  115. 

Nomads,  170;  costumes  of, 
170,  171;  encampments,  179; 
manner  of  killing  sheep, 
182;  hospitality,  184,  265. 

Nomoran  pass,  227. 

Nya  chu,  373. 

Nyara  Gomba,  373. 

Nyerpa,  276. 

Obo(s),  213,  235,  237,  240,  24], 
242,  360,  380. 

Officials,  Tibetan,  255,  256. 
269,  366. 

Oruss,  159. 

Oscar,  King,  161. 

Panaka,  173,  174,  175,  177, 
178,  188. 

Pandit,  A.  K.,  191. 

Passport,  19,  196,  354,  355. 

Pa-uen-chuan-tsi,  209. 

Pei  Fuyeh,  210. 

Pekin,  60,  107,  128,  154,  193, 
196,  198. 

Pilgrims  and  Pilgrimages,  9, 
109,  113,  115,  396. 


Pioneer  Missions,  12,  170,  193, 
194,  195. 

Polyandry,  221. 

Pon  chu,  284. 

Prayer-flags,  213. 

Prayer-wheels,  109,  114,  179. 

Prjevalski,  186,  191,  232. 

Prostrations,  109. 

Ra-la  mountains,  175. 

Ra-la  valley,  174,  175. 

Rahim,  52,  166,  174,  198,  213, 
216,  217,  218,  225,  235,  239, 
241,  242,  249,  256,  273,  277; 
Departure  of,  279. 

Rashi  Gomba,  346,  348,  350. 

Reading  Halls  at  Kumbum, 
112. 

Redfern,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  22, 
23. 

Reincarnation,  64,  65,  66,  67, 
125,  126. 

Religions  of  China,  15,  19,  20. 

Ridley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  24,  26, 
68,  69,  156,  166. 

Rijnhart,  Petrus,  visit  to 
Lusar  in  1892,  10;  pioneer 
work  on  the  border,  10,  11; 
lectures  in  America  and  Hol- 
land, 12;  knowledge  of  Chi- 
nese, 13;  prepares  our  house, 
28;  journey  to  the  grass 
country.  Chap,  ii;  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Kanpo  of 
Kumbum,  60,  61,  62,  63;  a 
false  alarm,  67;  treating 
wounded  soldiers,  77,  78,  79; 
a  ride  for  life,  79,  80,  81;  a 
distinguished  patient,  84,85; 
with  the  Mohammedan 
wounded,  100;  the  law  of 
Christian  kindness,  101; 
conversations  with  the 
Kanpo  of  Kumbum,  122, 123, 
124,  128;  ability  as  a  den- 
tist, 146;  entertained  by 
Lhasa  officials,  146,  147,  148; 


INDEX.  405 

meets    Capt.    Wellby,    151,  Shertoch  Fuyeh,  59. 

153,  153,  154;  visit  to  Pekin,   Shiabden  Gomba,  265,  377. 

155;  his  return,  164;  bicycle  Shigatse,  261,  279. 

exhibtions,    168  ;   departure  Shuga  g-ol,  236. 

for  Koko-nor,  174;  the  jour-  Si-fan,  27,  137. 

ney,     174-190';     applies     for  Signan,  16,  21. 

passport,  196;  journey  to  the  Sining,  24,  28,  55,  57,    68,   69, 

interior,  216,    218,   225,   227,       70,  76,   82,    88,    89,   91,    167, 

238,  256,  263,   271,   282,    283;       230,  243,  351,  352. 

celebration  of  our  wedding  Sok  chu,  284,  285. 

day.  280;  dealing  with  rob-  Sokdee,  283, 

bers.  Chap,  xix;   disappear-  Sulin  gol,  218. 

ance,    Chap,    xx;   report   of  Sung  kuan,  74. 

Ysung   Li  Yamen,  390,  391;  Sung  pan,  351. 

missionary  zeal,  395.  Ta-chien  lu,  144, 145,  271,  275, 

Rijnhart,  Charles  Carson,birth       323,  351,  352,  365,   366,  369, 

of,    165,-173,  200,   201,  210,       371,  372,    377,   379,  382,  383, 

227;  celebration  of  birthday,       384,  385. 

228—,  235,  238,  242,  243,  244;  Tala-dabesun-nor,  214. 

death  and  burial  in  the  in-  Talin  Turgen,  217. 

terior  of  Tibet,  Chap,    xv,  Tanguts,  47,  170,  172,  188. 

p.  396,  397.  Tankar,  43,  47,  49,  99,  133,  et 

Ritual  of  Tibetan  Buddhism      seq.,  160,   162,  167,  168.  170, 

and      Roman      Catholicism       172,  174,   188,   198,   203,  205, 

compared,  106,  107.  206,  208,   209,   219,  232,  236, 

Robbers,    175,    188,    212,    286,       275. 

287,  Chap,    xix,    327;  Chap.  Tai-lin,  369,  379. 

xxiv  TsrOcliGO    351. 

Rockhill,  W.  W.,  25,  103,  113,  Tashi  Gomba,   274,    276,    287, 

186,  209,  212,  225,  229,   351,       289,  297,  314,  322. 

352,  372.  Taylor,  Miss  Annie,  316,  383. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions,  107,  Ta-o  chu,  286. 

108,  383,  386.  Tea,  Tibetan,  183. 

Sacred  Tree,  113.  Teng,   Brig.  Gen.,  57,  58,   81, 

Salars,  52,  55,  56,   57,  74.  82,  83,  99. 

Sam-me-che-kur,  186.  Teng-nga  Gomba,  286. 

Sapo,  257,  261,  273,  279.  Teng-nga  chu,  286. 

Sapo  chu,  257.  Tents,  Tibetan,  177,  178. 

Scandinavians,  16.  Theatricals,  Tibetan,  148,  149. 

Serkin-dabesun-nor,  214,  216.  Timurte  Mountains,  216. 
Shak  chu,  256,  281.  Tong  kuan  of  Sining,  89,  90, 

Shalop  Chercho,  283.  91,  92,  99. 

Shanghai,  68,  196,  360,  381.        Topa,  58,  70,  85,  91,  92,  97,  98, 
Shara  gol,  218.  99,  100,  133. 

Shar-je-ja-ba,  145,  146,  192.        Topsy,  172,  174,  238,  241,  255, 
Shara  kuto,  215.  280,  297. 

Shen-ch'un,  70,  72,  76,  82,  88.   Traahil'unpo,  220,  230,  273. 


406  INDEX. 

Transhirunpo  Lama,  145,  261.  Tzar  chu,  277. 
Tsamba,  47,  162,  182,  183.  Uang,  Major,  55,  56. 

Ts'aidam,   162,   198,    199,  200,   Uang,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  206,  230. 

202,   220,  228,   230,   231,  232,   Uren  Muren,  212,  241. 

233,  236,  275.  Wang-ma-la,  283. 

Ts'aidam    Mongols,  221,    222,  Wang-yeh,  210. 

223.  Wei    General    92    93    99 

Tsachu,  289,  290,  304,  325.         Wellby,    Capt.,    visit  of,  151, 
Tsa-ta-ti,  209,  152,    153,   154,   155,  157,  158, 

Tsa-tsangol,  217.  160,-204,  209,  239. 

Tsanga  Fuyeh,  162,  164,  209.     ^ild  horses,  212,  213. 
Tsing  bai  wang,  214,  215.  Women,  Mongolian,  201,  215, 

1  so  gol,  ~/la.  2]^9    001    2''''    224 

Tsong  K'aba,  temple  of,  104;  ^xr'"  Tibet'an    ^*2   142  i<^i 

legends  of,  105,  106,  107,  108,       °™®°'  ^^^^^^^'  ^2,  142,  154, 

110,     112,     113,     118,    123.  TTT         r  rr... 

Tso-nitang,  176.  Wortug  Tibetans,  212. 

Tso-ri-niah,  86,  187.  Wounded,      attending       the, 

Tsung    Li   Yamen's    Report,       Chap,  iv,  p.  93,  96. 

390,  391.  Wu  ts'aidan,  201,  220. 

T'u-fan,  27.  Yangtse,  12,  14,  240,  242,  360. 

Turkestan,  52,  98.  Yellow  River,  24,  25,  56,  214, 

Turkestani  Mohammedans,  11,       215. 

29,  52.  Za  chu,  371,  372. 

Turner,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  Pol-  Zochen  Gomba,  369,  370. 

hill,  383,  386,  387,  388,  395. 


-?> 


/^ 


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